- Supreme court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson vowed to decide cases from a “neutral posture” in her opening remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Emphasizing her family and faith, she acknowledged the “historic chance” before her and said she stood on the “shoulders of so many who have come before me, including judge Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday.”
- Republicans sharpened their lines of attack against Jackson, making clear that they intend to press her on her judicial philosophy and more specifically on sentencing decisions she made related to cases involving child pornography offenders – accusations that several independent fact-checkers have called misleading.
- Republicans were also eager to re-litigate long-simmering grievances over past supreme court hearings, which Democrats said was a sign that they had few valid objections to her nomination.
- Democrats hailed the hearing as historic, taking turns to praise Jackson and her judicial record. They seemed optimistic that they had the votes to confirm her to the court, even without Republican votes.
- The committee will reconvene on Tuesday at 9am, when senators will question Jackson directly.
