Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has broken broke his silence on Democrat President Joe Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
McConnell confirmed, in no uncertain terms, that he will not vote to confirm Jackson to a lifetime appointment to the SCOTUS.
“The judiciary committee has completed its hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson,” McConnell said.
“I enjoyed meeting the nominee.
“I went into the senate’s process with an open mind.
“But after studying the nominee’s record and watching her performance this week, I can not and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
“First, Judge Jackson refuses to reject the fringe position that Democrats should try to pack the Supreme Court.
“Justice Ginsberg and Justice Breyer had no problem denouncing this unpopular view and defending their institution.
“I assumed this would be an easy softball for Judge Jackson, but it wasn’t.
“The nominee suggested there are two legitimate sides to the issue.
“She testified she has a view on the matter, but would not share it.
“She inaccurately compared her non-answer to a different, narrower question that a prior nominee was asked, but Judge Jackson actually tipped her hand.
“She said she would, ‘be thrilled to be one of however many,’ however many, the opposite of Ginsburg and Breyer’s sentiment.
“The most radical court-packing fringe groups badly wanted this nominee for this vacancy.
“Judge Jackson was the court-packers’ pick and she testified like it.”
McConnell also warned that Jackson would engage in “judicial activism.”
“It’s a recipe for courts to wander into policy making and prevent healthy Democratic compromise,” he said.
“This is the misunderstanding of the separation of powers that I’ve spent my entire career fighting against.
“I will vote against this nominee.”
.@LeaderMcConnell: “I cannot and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.” pic.twitter.com/iWkSBAmJmT
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 24, 2022
The hearings grew contentious at times.
From Fox News:
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, displayed a poster of eight child porn cases where he said Jackson sentenced the defendants to less time than what the government prosecutors and sentencing guidelines recommended.
He asked why she consistently gave out lesser sentences on child porn cases “100% of the time.”
“Senator, no one case can stand in for a judge’s entire sentencing record,” Jackson said.
“I’ve sentenced more than 100 people. You have eight or nine cases in that chart.”
Cruz continued to press for answers on her sentencing decisions, which prompted Durbin to intervene. Cruz lashed out and accused Durbin of filibustering on behalf of Jackson.
That prompted a lengthy and heated exchange between Cruz and Durbin which delayed the hearing.
“I have never seen the chairman refuse to allow a witness to answer a question,” Cruz told Durbin as the chairman pounded the gavel.
“You can bang it as loud as you want.”
“At some point you have to follow the rules,” Durbin shot back in trying to restore order.
