Top Judiciary Republican: Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearing Will Be Different Than What 'They Did with Kavanaugh'
A top Senate Judiciary Committee Republican promises that the upcoming confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will avoid tactics used by Democrats during the infamous 2018 hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Although Kavanaugh survived the brutal hearings process, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina accused Democrats of “the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics” in their desperation to find enough dirt to block Kavanaugh from joining the court, according to Politico.
“What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020,” Graham said then.
Senate Republicans are now a minority because the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris to break ties gives Democrats control of the 50-50 chamber. But they will not smear Jackson in the coming hearings, ranking Judiciary Committee member Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Monday, according to Fox News.
“Just like any nomination that comes before us, we’re going to take Judge Jackson’s nomination, and we’re going to vet it properly as we should, and then we’re going to have this open hearing. And there’s plenty of time between now and the time that Justice Breyer leaves to do this job thoroughly. We intend to do it thoroughly,” the Iowa Republican said.
“But I can assure you of one thing: We’re not going to have a comedy and a tragedy like the Democrats demonstrated to Kavanaugh.”
“We’re going to be very forthright in our questioning, but we’re going to be polite, and we’re not going to get down in the gutter like they did with Kavanaugh,” he said.
Graham and other Republicans have made it clear that the high road will not be without hurdles for Jackson, according to The Washington Post.
Graham had strongly supported Judge J. Michelle Childs for the nomination, as did Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, and voiced his anger when Jackson was nominated.
“It means the radical left has won President Biden over yet again,” Graham said then.
“I expect a respectful but interesting hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee,” he said.
With Childs, a graduate of the University of South Carolina, bypassed, the “Harvard-Yale train to the Supreme Court continues to run unabated,” Graham said. Jackson received her bachelor’s and law degree from Harvard.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who voted to confirm Jackson in her current post as a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said all bets are off in Jackson’s upcoming hearings.
“When Judge Jackson appeared last year before the Judiciary Committee, I was troubled by aspects of her record, including her record on crime and criminal justice,” he said.
“I will be thoroughly reviewing Judge Jackson’s record from top to bottom and look forward to speaking with her.”
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said her support for Jackson to reach the court of appeals does not mean she is a rubber stamp for the nomination.
“I’ve been clear that previously voting to confirm an individual to a lower court does not signal how I will vote for a Supreme Court justice,” Murkowski said.
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