McConnell to oppose Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
• McConnell criticized Jackson’s sentencing record and argued that she testified like her supporters, who wish for an expanded Supreme Court.
• Jackson had refused to comment on the issue of adding seats to the high court, explaining that it is up to Congress to decide.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has announced on Thursday that he plans to oppose Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination.

The Senate Minority Leader declared on the Senate floor, “I cannot and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.”

McConnell pointed out that Jackson “was the court-packers’ pick, and she testified like it,” citing Jackson’s refusal to comment on the issue of adding seats to the Supreme Court. He also criticized her record on the federal district court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Jackson is the first Black woman nominated to the high court. Most of her vocal supporters are from progressive judicial groups advocating for the expansion of the Supreme Court.

During her two days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jackson declined on several occasions to speak her thoughts on the issue. She explained that “it is a policy question for Congress,” and that it is not her place to speak about it.

McConnell added that Jackson doesn’t have enough experience, having issued only two written decisions during her near-year tenure in the D.C. Circuit, compared to Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, who all served for years in the federal appeals court.

Prior to that, Jackson wrote over 570 decisions, most of which were authored during her eight years in the federal district court in Washington. McConnell argued that some of these decisions, as well as her sentencing record, are “troubling.”

Other Republican senators criticized Jackson for reportedly being lenient in sentencing child pornography offenders. Jackson argued that she was only following parameters set by Congress under federal law.

Jackson pointed out that she is “fully aware of the seriousness of this offense” and that she took her obligation seriously. She added that she has daughters and knows full well the gravity of each case.

McConnell had also opposed Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit last year.

Jackson underwent a grueling two days of questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 22 members. The panel vote is expected to take place on April 4, which will then advance her nomination to the full Senate. Democratic senators hope to have the final confirmation vote before the two-week recess starts on April 8.

If backed by all 50 Democratic senators, Jackson can be confirmed even without Republican support, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. The Biden administration has been hoping for a bipartisan confirmation, however.

If confirmed, Jackson will replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, maintaining the court’s ideological divide.

Source: CBS News