Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed his opposition to President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, for a lifetime appointment to the highest court over her sentencing record which he called "troubling."
The Republican's remarks were made during a speech on the Senate floor amid Jackson's confirmation hearings. McConnell said that his decision was based on Jackson's answers on adding seats to the Supreme Court. He also cited the nominee's record on both the federal district court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Jackson's Confirmation Hearing
Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court, declined to answer and give her opinion on proposals to increase the number of seats in the highest court. The proposal has been advocated by progressive judicial groups that are vocal supporters of her nomination.
"Other nominees to this Supreme Court have responded as I will, which is that it is a policy question for Congress and I am particularly mindful of not speaking to policy issues because I am so committed to staying in my lane of the system because I just am not willing to speak to issues that are properly in the province of this body," Jackson said during her confirmation hearing, as per CBS News.
The Biden nominee faced lines of contentious questioning from Republicans on Tuesday and some GOP lawmakers took more aggressive approaches on Wednesday. On Jackson's third day, she was repeatedly interrupted, and her attempts to answer questions were dismissed. Republicans also argued with Democrats on whether they were being fair to the nominee.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina repeatedly talked over Jackson while she tried to answer questions and accused her of judicial "activism." He questioned her on her thoughts on what Justice Brett Kavanaugh faced during his 2018 confirmation proceedings.
According to CNN, after the Wednesday hearing, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont criticized senators who acted inappropriately in their questioning of the "highly qualified, remarkable woman." The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Jackson's nomination on Apr. 4 as Democratic leaders hope to confirm the nominee before the mid-April recess.
Aggressive Republican Questioning
The hostile questioning of Jackson came after Republicans committed early in her nomination that the process would be marked by decorum and respect. However, as the confirmation hearing continued, it became a bruising affair for the Senate, which was no less bitter or partisan than their immediate predecessors.
Even Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse expressed his exasperation of the "jackassery" that was seen in the hearings of "people mugging" for the cameras. However, despite widespread attempts by GOP lawmakers to discredit Jackson, there was no indication that her confirmation would be derailed.
New Jersey Democrat Sen. Cory Booker, who is currently the only Black member of the committee, reflected on the historic nature of Jackson's nomination. He reminded her, and the country, of the significance of the nominee's quest.
In a statement, Booker called Jackson his "star" and his "harbinger of hope," arguing that the United States would only get better with the help of the Black woman, the New York Times reported.
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