Washington, D.C. — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he does not oppose the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court, but Grassley says the timeline Democrats propose to confirm her by Easter isn’t “realistic.”
Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says Democrats want to start Jackson’s hearings on March 21st.
Comparisons are being made to how swiftly Republicans confirmed now Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, but Grassley says it’s not apples-to-apples.
Grassley says senators are going through all of those cases but also need time to review Jackson’s years of service on the sentencing commission. Jackson and Grassley met one-on-one earlier this month, shortly after President Biden announced she was his choice to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who’s stepping down at the end of June. Grassley says it would be tough to schedule one-on-ones with everyone who might want one before March 21st.
Certainly, he says, all 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee will want to meet with Jackson, but Grassley says there are 39 other GOP senators who deserve an opportunity to question her before they cast a vote. Grassley makes the following prediction about the confirmation process for the potential first black woman on the nation’s high court.
Grassley is referring to now Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Trump in 2018. Shortly after being nominated, Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the 1980s when they were in high school, and two other women accused him of sexual misconduct, all allegations he denied. After fiery hearings, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on a 50-to-48 vote.
