Washington — The Senate Judiciary Committee will start 4 days of hearings to contemplate the nomination of Decide Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court docket on Monday, March 21, committee Chairman Richard Durbin stated Wednesday.
Jackson, 51, at the moment serves as a choose on the federal appeals court docket in Washington, D.C., and was selected by President Biden to interchange outgoing Supreme Court docket Justice Stephen Breyer final week. She could be the primary Black feminine Supreme Court docket justice in U.S. historical past if confirmed.
“As I’ve stated from the time that Justice Breyer introduced his retirement, the Committee will undertake a good and well timed course of to contemplate Decide Jackson’s nomination,” Durbin wrote in a letter to colleagues. “I stay up for Decide Jackson’s look earlier than the Committee and to respectful and dignified hearings.”
Durbin stated the primary day of hearings will function opening statements from Judiciary Committee members, an introduction of Jackson and a press release from Jackson herself. The following two days will probably be reserved for questioning by committee members, and outdoors witnesses will testify on the fourth and ultimate day of hearings.
Democrats management the evenly divided Senate and hope to maneuver shortly to verify Jackson to the excessive court docket. A easy majority is required to verify Supreme Court docket justices within the Senate, due to a change within the chamber’s guidelines in 2017. Jackson started assembly with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, together with Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer and Minority Chief Mitch McConnell.
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Jackson is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Legislation Faculty, and clerked for Breyer in 1999. She labored in non-public legislation companies and as a public defender, and served on the U.S. Sentencing Fee. She was a federal district choose in Washington for eight years earlier than being named to the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2021 to interchange Merrick Garland, who stepped all the way down to grow to be legal professional basic.
Three Republican senators voted to verify Jackson to the D.C. Circuit final yr: Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Graham, who was beforehand chairman of the Judiciary Committee, stated he anticipated a “respectful however fascinating listening to” when her nomination was introduced.
