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Live updates: Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings begin
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WASHINGTON – Less than a month after President Joe Biden introduced her as his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson took her seat in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday for the first in what will be a whirlwind week of hearings.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin quickly noted the historic nature of Jackson’s nomination. She would be the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court in its 233-year history.
“You, Judge Jackson, can be the first,” Durbin said, noting that being first isn’t always easy. “Today is a proud day for America.”
Hearings will last through Thursday, with introductions on Monday, and committee questioning taking up the following two days.
If confirmed, Jackson would be the 116th justice on the nation’s highest court. While Jackson’s confirmation wouldn’t change the ideological makeup of the court, her background as a former federal public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission may have a big influence.
But first, Jackson, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, has to navigate the kind of politics jurists generally like to avoid. Monday’s hearing will be all talk and no questions, with senators – and Jackson herself – offering carefully scripted opening statements that may offer some clues about how the next few days will go.
Lingering resentments from the confirmation hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh still rankle some Republican senators.
“Most of us couldn’t get back to our offices during Kavanaugh without getting spit on. I hope that doesn’t happen to y’all,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina., told his Democratic colleagues. “I don’t think it will.”
Hearing preview:What to watch for in Ketanji Brown Jackson’s hearing
Graham tears in Dems for past hearings
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., used his opening statement to complain bitterly that, in his view, Democrats have not treated previous nominees from Republican presidents fairly.
Graham, who voted for Jackson for the D.C. Circuit last year, complained that diverse candidates nominated by Republican presidents haven’t received the same treatment as Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court.
“If you’re a Hispanic or African American conservative it’s about your philosophy,” Graham said of past Democratic criticism. “Now, it’s going to be about the historic nature” of the nomination.
Graham said Republicans would be labeled “racist if we ask hard questions” but said that’s “not gonna fly with us.”
Graham, who has voted for Democratic nominees for the Supreme Court before, also criticized what he described as a “takedown” on the left of another Supreme Court candidate Biden had considered, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs, who is from Graham’s home state.
Some labor groups had questioned Childs’ previous work on behalf of employers against unions.
“It’s gonna be a couple interesting days,” Graham said.
– John Fritze
Leahy: Jackson ‘fair and impartial’ jurist
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court could help restore American confidence in a judicial system he described as part of the increasingly partisan “judicial wars.”
“She’s a fair and impartial jurist with a fidelity to the law above all else,” Leahy said. “That’s what Americans want to see in a Supreme Court justice.”
Jackson, he said, could help unite the Senate behind a nominee who already has won bipartisan support as a nominee for the District Court of Washington, D.C.
“In this moment we have before us a unique opportunity to change that narrative. I’m under no allusion that we can mend this process overnight,” he said. “We have before us a nominee who has brought us together across party lines before and one I hope can bring us back together again.”
– Rick Rouan
Grassley notes delay in records requests
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking GOP member, said the U.S. Sentencing Commission has not yet given Republican members of the panel many records from Jackson’s tenure at the independent advisory organization for the judicial branch.
He sarcastically predicted those records might surface “about 20 years from now,” long after the hearings conclude.
– Kevin McCoy
Grassley: Jackson hearing will be more respectful than Kavanaugh
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, used his opening statement to set the GOP tone for how they plan to interrogate Jackson’s legal thinking and decision making.
The ranking Republican noted how this week’s hearings will be an “exhaustive examination” Jackson’s record and views, but will be much different than the raucous tone of the hearings that confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
“We won’t try to turn this into a spectacle based on alleged process fouls,” Grassley said. “On that front, we’re off to a good start. Unlike the start to the Kavanaugh hearings, we didn’t have repeated, choreographed interruptions of Chairman Durbin during his opening statement like Democrats interrupted me for more than an hour during my opening statement at the Kavanaugh hearing.”
Grassley said since Biden announced her as his nominee for the Supreme Court, he encouraged his GOP colleagues to schedule meetings with her. He said Republicans will be asking tough questions about Jackson’s judicial philosophy, and the role judges should play in U.S. society, as Republicans are expected to discuss rising violent crime and adding justices to the high court.
“I’ve continually emphasized the need for a thorough, respectful process,” Grassley said.
– Phillip M. Bailey
Durbin defends Jackson on crime
Durbin defended Jackson against charges that have emerged from Republicans in recent days that she has handed down sentences in child pornography possession cases below U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
“These baseless charges are unfair,” Durbin said. “They fly in the face of pledges my colleagues made that they would approach your nomination with civility and respect.”
Some Republican senators have noted that Jackson has sentenced defendants on the charges below the guidelines. But others – including some conservatives – have noted that many judges regularly sentence below the guidelines. Several independent fact check organizations have found that the claims are missing important context.
– John Fritze
Who is Jackson?: Supreme Court pick Ketanji Brown Jackson in her own words
Durbin: Jackson not a ‘rubber stamp’ for president
Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had a message for the critics of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson: check the record.
Durbin said during opening remarks that Jackson would not be a “rubber stamp” for the president who is nominating her to the high court, pointing to thousands of pages of transcripts and hundreds of opinions the committee has reviewed during her previous confirmations to other posts.
“You’ve been faithful to the law not to any person,” he said.
– Rick Rouan
Senators settle in for hearing
The other 21 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are listening as Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois makes his opening remarks.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff glanced over the press and turned to look at Judge Jackson as Durbin spoke, while Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas bent over a piece of paper, taking notes.
– Dylan Wells
First GOP criticism from Blackburn
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., offered a preview of the kind of criticism Republicans are likely to deliver.
“While I’m concerned that you don’t take seriously the rights of parents to choose what’s best for their children, you’ve consistently called for greater freedoms for hardened criminals,” Blackburn will say, according to excerpts of her opening statements.
Blackburn will also raise the issue of child pornography sentencing, which has emerged as a GOP taking point in recent days. Some Republican senators have said that Jackson has sentenced defendants with child pornography possession charges below the guidelines set out by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. But others – including some conservatives – have noted that many judges regularly sentence below the guidelines.
– John Fritze
‘Sherpa’ Doug Jones, guests file into hearing room
Ahead of the start of the first Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, guests are beginning to file into the room.
Former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, the Supreme Court sherpa guiding Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson around the Hill, has arrived ahead of the hearing.
Jones could be seen speaking to Democratic Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a guest of Senate Judiciary Chair Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.
– Dylan Wells
A guide on Capitol Hil:Former Alabama Senator Doug Jones tapped as ‘sherpa’ for Biden’s Supreme Court nominee
‘KBJ, every day’
Supporters and opponents of Jackson’s confirmation have gathered outside the Supreme Court, according to several media accounts.
Chants of “Every day, KBJ” could be heard outside the court, Max Cohen of Punchbowl News tweeted.
Kimberly Robinson, a Supreme Court reporter with Bloomberg Law, tweeted a photograph that showed several dozen “protestors or and against Judge Jackson” outside the court.
The justices are hearing arguments in two cases Monday.
– John Fritze
Sentencing:Supreme Court pick Jackson could have ‘profound’ impact on sentencing
Jackson’s intro a signal to GOP
In the carefully choreographed presentation of Jackson to the Senate Judiciary Committee, even introductions matter.
And in this case, at least one of the people introducing the judge is intended to send a signal to the GOP.
Jackson will be introduced by two people: Lisa Fairfax, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and former U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith. Fairfax is longtime friend and Harvard classmate of Jackson’s who will speak to her character.
Griffith is perhaps a less expected choice. A former judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Griffith was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican. And so the message Jackson’s supporters hope to send is clear: She may be President Joe Biden’s nominee, but she has support from across the spectrum of judicial ideologies.
Griffith was also involved in one of the cases Republicans most often cite to criticize Jackson: A decision in which she ruled that President Donald Trump’s White House counsel, Don McGahn, was required to testify before a congressional committee that was at the time exploring impeachment. Griffith was one of two judges on a three-judge panel that overturned Jackson’s ruling in that case.
Griffith noted the disagreement in a letter supporting Jackson last month.
“However, I have always respected her careful approach, extraordinary judicial understanding, and collegial manner, three indispensable traits for success as a Justice on the Supreme Court,” Griffith wrote.
– John Fritze
Supreme Court nomination highlights lack of Black women in Senate
When Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson begins her confirmation as the first Black woman nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, she won’t face questions from anyone who looks like her.
– Dylan Wells
Who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee?
The Senate Judiciary Committee that presides over Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court is split evenly with 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans.
Members include a handful of former presidential candidates and firebrands from both sides of the aisle who this week will question Jackson, the first Black woman nominated for the court.
The members of the committee are:
- Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Il., chair
- Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member
- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
- Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
- Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii
- Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
- Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
- Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
- Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas
- Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah
- Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas
- Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.
- Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
- Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
- Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.
- Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
– Rick Rouan
Poll: Majority of Americans support Jackson
A majority of Americans believe Jackson should be confirmed to the Supreme Court, but nearly half don’t know enough about her to assess her qualifications, according to a Monmouth University Poll released on Monday.
More than two-thirds of Americans feel it is important for the high court to reflect the nation’s diversity, the Monmouth poll found. About 2 in 10 believe that having a Black woman on the court will have a real impact on how cases are decided.
The results are consistent with other polling since President Joe Biden announced Jackson as his nominee about a month ago. Just more than half of voters in a Wall Street Journal poll earlier this month said the Senate should confirm Jackson to the court. About a third said they are opposed. Just under 20% said they had no opinion or didn’t know.
– John Fritze
Profile:Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson? For starters, she clerked for Breyer
What does bipartisanship look like?
When the Senate confirmed Associate Justice Stephen Breyer in 1994, the vote was 87 to 9, with more than two dozen Republicans backing President Bill Clinton’s nominee.
How times – and politics – have changed.
Breyer, who is retiring this year, was the last Supreme Court nominee from a president of either party to win substantial bipartisan support. These days, a bipartisan confirmation means a nominee is lucky to pick up three or four senators from the other party.
When Associate Justice Samuel Alito came along a dozen years later, the vote was far more narrow, 58-42, with only four Democrats breaking ranks. He was nominated by President George W. Bush. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor did slightly better in 2009, picking up nine Republicans. Associate Justice Elena Kagan, arguably one of the least controversial nominees in modern times, pulled in five GOP votes. Sotomayor and Kagan were both Obama appointees.
And then came President Donald Trump, whose three nominees were cleared on very thin margins. Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch got three Democrats; Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh received one Democratic vote – West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin – and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett became the first justice since the 19th Century to win confirmation without a single vote from the party opposing the president.
What does this mean for Jackson? There’s little reason to think the trend will change: In the current political landscape, Biden will be able to claim victory – and the mantle of bipartisanship – if only two or three Republicans wind up supporting her. If recent history is any guide, that’s about the best she can hope for.
– John Fritze
Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Biden’s decision to nominate Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court wasn’t much of a surprise. In many ways, she was the safest bet.
That’s because Jackson, who Biden nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last year, has already been confirmed three times before. The Miami native and Harvard-educated lawyer had formerly served as a U.S. District Court judge and on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Both of those jobs required Senate approval.
Jackson, 51, clerked for the man she would replace, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. And President Barack Obama not only nominated her to the federal bench in 2012 but he considered nominating her to the Supreme Court back in 2016.
Bio:What to know about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden’s Supreme Court pick
Religion:Jackson would add another Protestant voice to Supreme Court
Jackson has served on the D.C. Circuit since June and so has written only three opinions there. Of her two majority opinions, one dealt with whether a defense contractor could sue Iraq. In the other, Jackson wrote for a unanimous court that sided with federal unions in a dispute over labor negotiations.
But she has a deep record from the federal trial court, writing hundreds of opinions. In her most often-cited decision, Jackson ruled in 2019 that President Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, Don McGahn, had to testify as part of a congressional impeachment inquiry. But she’s also crafted opinions that sided with the Trump administration, including on immigration and his border wall.
– John Fritze, Kevin McCoy, Nick Penzenstadler
A look at Ketanji Brown Jackson’s family
Growing up in a largely Jewish community in South Miami, Florida, Jackson, who is Protestant, was a nationally ranked orator on her high school speech and debate team. At Harvard, actor Matt Damon was one of her scene partners in a drama course. But it was another relationship she developed at Harvard that would shape her life.
She and her husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, met as Harvard undergraduates. They married later, as she went to Harvard Law School and he went to Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Patrick Jackson is now a surgeon on staff at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Jackson and her husband have two daughters, Talia, a college student, and Leila, a high schooler. After Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, Leila Jackson, then in middle school, wrote a letter asking Obama to consider her mother as Scalia’s successor.
“She’s determined, honest and never breaks a promise,” Leila wrote, “even if there were other things she’d rather do.”
– John Fritze, Kevin McCoy, Nick Penzenstadler
Agenda for Jackson’s hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, will hold four days of hearings to consider Jackson for the Supreme Court, which is consistent with past nominees in modern times.
Starting at 11 a.m. ET Monday, the first day’s hearing will be like an appetizer, with committee members delivering 10-minute opening statements. Jackson will also get 10 minutes to give an opening pitch to the senators. The statements will likely offer some clues about the lines of questioning Democrats and Republicans will pursue.
The main event begins on Tuesday, when members of the committee will each get 30 minutes, in order of seniority, to question Jackson. The questioning will continue Wednesday with another round, with each senator receiving 20 minutes.
The final day of hearings, Thursday, will be an opportunity for outside groups and experts, such as the American Bar Association, to offer their thoughts on Jackson.
– John Fritze
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Uber, Lyft made safety improvements, but many of those protect riders more than drivers. But drivers are also in danger.
Naomi Ogutu
Opinion contributor
I’ve been a rideshare driver in New York City for six years, and I take pride in my job and helping my passengers get where they need to go safely. But my safety is not a guarantee. I’m a mom of three. I need to know that I’ll make it home to my kids at the end of each night.
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Business
'A bad déjà vu': Under the crush of Western sanctions, Russians fear a return to dark economic days
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Harsh sanctions from Western nations on Russia have reminded citizens of the country’s 1998 debt crisis.
By Anna Nemtsova
USA TODAY
- McDonalds and other American businesses have closed in Russia amid its invasion into Ukraine.
- One expert estimates more than 200,000 Russians have left the country since the start of the war.
- To counter economic turmoil, Putin has demand “unfriendly” countries pay for natural gas exports in rubles.
The once bustling corner of Moscow’s central Tverskaya Street looked deserted on Wednesday, as Russia’s first-ever McDonald’s franchise – opened in 1990 in a move that symbolized the Soviet Union’s opening to the West – shut its doors.
A large mural depicting a giant, Soviet-era medal – the Order of Victory, the highest military decoration awarded in World War II — loomed over over the empty sidewalk.
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The lone No. 1 seed still alive heading into the Elite Eight, Kansas needs only a win against No. 10 Miami (Fla.) to book a spot in the Final Four.
No. 2 Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski can make one last Final Four and chase one final national championship by beating No. 4 Arkansas.
No. 2 Villanova can reach the national semifinals for the third time in six tournaments by winning what should be a defense-dominated brawl against No. 5 Houston.
And after beating No. 4 UCLA in the Sweet 16, No. 8 North Carolina is one win from reaching the Final Four under first-year coach Hubert Davis.
If everything goes according to plan, this year’s Final Four will consist of some of the biggest names in the history of the sport.
But the last week has taught us that this year’s NCAA Tournament will inevitably deviate from the script.
So look for the Jayhawks to be shocked in the Elite Eight, as the Bill Self collection of tournament collapses adds another painful chapter. Based on how things have gone through three rounds, Arkansas is a lock to send Krzyzewski into retirement one game shy of the Final Four. Villanova may be a two-time champion under Jay Wright, but the Wildcats will be smothered by Houston.
And, of course, the Tar Heels will lose to the team that embodies the wackiness and uncertainty of this entire tournament.
Saint Peter’s stands at the precipice of another outlandish achievement: being the first No. 15 seed — the first seed lower than No. 11, in fact — to reach the Final Four.
The Peacocks will be the underdog once again come Sunday, when they’ll match against a deeper and more talented opponent with decades of history to more than overshadow the Peacocks’ three-game run.
But beating another college basketball giant will simply take what we already know the Peacocks can bring to the table: Saint Peter’s reached the Elite Eight with energy, aggressiveness and composure, following the model set by unflappable coach Shaheen Holloway, and that same combination will give the Peacocks a chance at etching themselves into an even more permanent place in NCAA Tournament history.
“We’re happy but don’t mistake, we’re not satisfied, we’re not satisfied at all,” said guard Doug Edert. “The job is not finished. We feel like we belong and the more games we win the more confidence we build.”
That sounds like bad news for the Tar Heels, who might’ve righted the ship after a poor start to ACC play but could be the latest blueblood to the Peacocks’ formula.
At some point, the magic has to run out — for Saint Peter’s, which somehow keeps stacking upsets of higher-ranked opponents, and for the tournament at large, which has been wackier than ever but could suddenly snap back to the status quo.
But this March has not gone according to plan. Several big names lost early. Others failed to get out of the second round. The story of this year’s tournament has been upsets, shockers, letdowns, unpredictable officiating and unpredictability, period — why should the next two days be any different?
Follow colleges reporter Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
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