U.S. Senate Panel Prepares To Vote On Biden's Supreme Court Pick Jackson

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday was poised to vote on President Joe Biden's U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson in the next hurdle on her journey toward confirmation, with a potential tie looming on a panel evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Even with the possible 11-11 committee deadlock, Jackson's nomination still would proceed to the full Senate, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer already saying the chamber was on track to confirm the federal appellate court judge to the lifetime post before its planned Easter recess begins on Friday.

If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman to serve on the top U.S. judiciary body, joining the liberal bloc on a court with a 6-3 conservative majority. During her confirmation hearing before the panel last month, Biden's fellow Democrats expressed support for Jackson while Republicans signaled opposition with a spree of hostile questions.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, the committee's chairman, noted in his opening statement ahead of the vote that the panel voted to confirm Jackson to three previous posts. Durbin said Jackson has impeccable qualifications and he lamented what he called baseless attacks by some Republicans.

"They repeatedly interrupted and badgered Judge Jackson and accused her of vile things in front of her parents, her husband and her children. There was table-pounding - some literal - from a few of my colleagues. They repeated discredited claims about Judge Jackson's character," Durbin said.

Several Republican senators used the confirmation hearings to accuse her of being lenient on child pornography offenders during her time as a federal trial court judge. Jackson defended her record, saying she did her "duty to hold the defendants accountable." Sentencing experts called the penalties she imposed within the mainstream among federal judges, while American Bar Association witnesses rejected claims that Jackson was "soft on crime."

With a simple majority needed for confirmation and the Senate divided 50-50 between the parties, Jackson would get the job if Democrats remain united regardless of how the Republicans vote. Biden's fellow Democrats control the Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

Senator Chuck Grassley, the committee's top Republican, called Jackson "very personable and engaging" but complained that more documents on her judicial record should have been released and took issue with the nominee on a number of matters.

"Having carefully studied her record, unfortunately, I think she and I have fundamentally different views on the roles of judges and the role that they should play in our system of government. Because of those disagreements I cannot support her nomination," Grassley said.

During her confirmation hearings, Jackson, 51, pledged independence if confirmed and embraced a limited role for jurists. She also reflected on opportunities she has had that her parents, who grew up in era of racial segregation in the South, did not.

Senator Susan Collins, not a member of the committee, last Wednesday became the only Republican to announce support for Jackson while also calling the current judicial confirmation process too politicized.

The committee's tally is expected to be a deadlock after Senator Lindsay Graham, its sole Republican to vote to confirm Jackson last June for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, said he would vote no this time. Graham on Monday again aired grievances about how Democrats treated previous Republican Supreme Court nominees, while accusing Jackson of being evasive during her confirmation hearings and giving answers that he said indicated she would be an activist judge molding her rulings to her own beliefs.

A tied committee vote would not block Jackson's nomination, as Democrats would be expected to hold a vote on the Senate floor that would let it proceed. Democrats expect a final Senate confirmation vote on Thursday or Friday.

Jackson, if confirmed, would replace retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.