McConnell Ponders SC Vote as Nominee Begins Confirmation Hearings on Monday

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday that he has not made a decision on Judge Kentaji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination during her Senate hearing scheduled to begin on Monday.

Jackson has become the first Black woman nominated to the country's highest court after United States President Joe Biden's nomination. During an interview, McConnell said that the Committee is poised to question the nominee and present to her tough questions.

McConnell's Vote on Jackson

The minority leader said he has not yet made his final decision of how he was going to vote for Jackson. However, McConnell said that he was going to conduct a respectful deep dive into the SC nominee's record which he believes is appropriate for a lifetime appointment.

Since Jackson's nomination, it has remained unclear how Republican lawmakers planned to question the judge but others have already stepped up their criticism of the Black woman. The minority leader last week reportedly said that he was concerned over Jackson's experience as a public defender that he argued could lead her to favor criminal defendants, as per CNBC.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri conducted a review of Jackson's record last week and said that he noticed an "alarming pattern when it comes to Judge Jackson's treatment of sex offenders, especially those preying on children." However, independent fact-checkers later debunked the lawmaker's claims.

On Sunday, Sen. Dick Durbin denounced Hawley's attacks on the SC nominee, saying in an interview that the Missouri official's analysis of Jackson was "inaccurate and unfair." Durbin noted that Hawley was part of a fringe within the Republican Party. He argued that the Missouri lawmaker did not have the credibility he thought he had.

According to the Washington Post, comments from various GOP senators have hinted that Jackson's confirmation hearings will be less contentious than recent ones. This is seen as an attempt by the Republican Party to avoid being seen as attacking a historic nominee and because her addition to the court will not cause a drastic shift to the ideological balance.

Supreme Court

McConnell previously had a one-on-one meeting with Jackson where he questioned the nominee regarding her potential support of court-packing. The idea is that the proposal will add more seats to the Supreme Court as part of an attempt to increase or expand the influence of the party that is currently in control of the White House.

The minority leader said that the issue will be one of the key issues in the confirmation hearing of the Black woman. However, Sen. Doug Jones, who is Jackson's guide for the process, said that the SC nominee told McConnell that adding seats to the court was a decision that should be made by Congress.

South Carolina's Sen. Lindsey Graham is another one of Jackson's critics and has voiced a number of complaints. The Republican senator referred to the SC nominee as a "radical left" nominee. The lawmaker's remarks come as many GOP members are expected to stand in opposition to Jackson's confirmation to the country's highest court, Politico reported.