WASHINGTON (AP) — The historic Senate hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court, have been joyful, combative and clarifying, putting on display the breadth of the nation's partisan divide and the unresolved problems of its past.
The fourth and final day of the Senate Judiciary Committee's consideration of Jackson wrapped up Thursday with several hours of testimony from outside experts.
The American Bar Association's standing committee on the federal judiciary has afforded its highest rating, “well qualified,” to the Harvard-educated Jackson. A junior high school friend gushed over the “supernova" debate team champion. Skeptics, including the Alabama's attorney general, warned that her views on crime and policing are “outside the mainstream.”
Yet in the 50-50 Senate, where a Trump-era rules change means it is no longer necessary to muster broad support to confirm Supreme Court nominees, the hearings have become less about the vote ahead and more about framing the politics of the eventual outcome.
Democrats are on track to confirm President Joe Biden's pick, with a vote expected by Easter, which is April 17.
Some takeaways from Day Four of the weeklong hearing:
REVIEWING THE RECORD
“Outstanding, excellent, superior, superb.”
The ABA committee gave Jackson the same highest rating that has been bestowed on most recent Supreme Court nominees, with the exception of Justice Amy Coney Barret.
The committee's chair, Ann Claire Williams, testified on the review of some 250-legal professionals on Jackson’s record. Asked how Jackson’s integrity was viewed, Williams said: “Those are the comments.”
Republican senators are focusing on a narrow slice of the judge's work, the child...
