Grassley to oppose Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination

Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Monday that he will oppose Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, setting up a tie vote in the panel. 

“Having carefully studied her record, unfortunately I think she and I have fundamentally different views on the role of judges and the role that they should play in our system of government because of those disagreements I can’t support her nomination,” Grassley said. 

Grassley’s opposition isn’t a surprise — he opposed her last year for her appeals court spot. Grassley made the announcement as the Judiciary Committee is prepared to vote on Jackson’s nomination later Monday.

Grassley called Jackson “personable and engaging” but criticized the White House for not sharing additional documents from Jackson’s time on a sentencing commission as well as documents tied to Jackson’s sentencing decisions in certain child pornography cases.

“Judge Jackson told us that she can’t get records for her old cases because she’s no longer a district court judge. That seems to be very convenient, however it is very inconvenient for this senator,” Grassley added. 

Grassley also questioned Jackson’s judicial methodology, calling it “alarming,” and accused Jackson of sidestepping questions.

“Throughout this process, I’ve focused on thoroughly and fairly assessing Judge Jackson’s record. I think I’ve done that. We need confidence that judges will interpret the laws as they are written. Judge Jackson’s reinterpretation of laws I’ve helped write does not give me that confidence,” Grassley said. 

Grassley’s decision means that, absent a U-turn from one of the other Republicans on the committee, Jackson will hit a tie vote in the evenly divided panel later Monday. All Republicans are expected to vote against her, while all Democrats are expected to support her. It will be the first tie vote for a Supreme Court nominee on the panel since Justice Clarence Thomas. The committee ultimately advanced Thomas’s nomination to the Senate without a recommendation. 

But Senate Democrats are expected to move to discharge Jackson’s nomination from the committee later Monday. It will be the first time they’ve discharged a Supreme Court nominee since 1853. The move will put Democrats on track to confirm her nomination by the end of the week.