Senate Republicans have ripped into Democrats as Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing got underway on Monday.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led off the hearing by slamming the Democrats’ pushback against previous nominees while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reminded them of their past behavior.
Grassley ripped the Democrats for voting “no” on Republican SCOTUS nominees, who he calls “diverse professionally, diverse geographically, diverse religiously, and diverse ethnically.
“Was it racist or anti-women for them to do so?” he asked.
“As for her district court record, there have been some accusations that we cherry-picked some of Judge Jackson’s criminal cases,” Grassley continued.
“Well, don’t worry. We’re going to talk about other cases as well.
“I’ve distinguished between two types of nominees who have worked in criminal cases.
“There are ‘Bill of Rights attorneys’ who want to protect defendants’ constitutional rights.
“Then there are what I’ve called ‘criminal defense lawyers’ who disagree with our criminal laws.
“They want to undermine laws that they have policy disagreements with, and of course, that’s a very important difference.”
“Most of us couldn’t go back to our offices during Kavanaugh without getting spit on. Hope that doesn’t happen to y’all, I don’t think it will.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing pic.twitter.com/3eCcYIkXef
— The Recount (@therecount) March 21, 2022
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said:
“Not a single justice has been a black woman.
“You, Judge Jackson, can be the first.
“It’s not easy being the first.
“Often you have to be the best. In some ways, the bravest.
“Many are not prepared to face that kind of heat, that kind of scrutiny, that ordeal and the glare of the national spotlight.
“We can be confident that the court, its role, and its decisions will be more understandable to the American public.”
Lindsey Graham issued a warning to Democrats to remind them of their horrific behavior during the confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s nominees.
“Most of us couldn’t go back to our offices during Kavanaugh without getting spit on,” Graham recalled.
“Hope that doesn’t happen to y’all, I don’t think it will.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) hits Democrats for voting no on Republican SCOTUS nominees, who he calls “diverse professionally, diverse geographically, diverse religiously, and diverse ethnically.”
“Was it racious [sic] or anti-women for them to do so?” pic.twitter.com/SnsSWDM4fu
— The Recount (@therecount) March 21, 2022
From CBS:
With Democrats controlling 50 seats in the Senate and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking tie votes, Jackson can be confirmed without Republican support, and Democrats hope the Senate will hold its final vote before it breaks for a two-week recess April 8.
But the White House and Democratic leaders are hoping the Senate will approve her nomination with backing from both parties.
Durbin estimated half-a-dozen Republicans could vote to confirm Jackson, and some GOP senators have suggested they’re open to doing so.
Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — backed Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals to the District of Columbia Circuit last year.
Durbin told reporters this month part of his appeal to Republicans who opposed her confirmation to the D.C. Circuit is that her confirmation would make history.
