Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court, lost a potential vote in her favor on Thursday when Senator Lindsey Graham announced he is voting no on the nominee. This isn’t too much of a surprise for anyone who watched the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Graham didn’t bother to attempt to hide his disapproval during his time for questions to KBJ.
Graham says that KBJ is a judicial activist. It’s hard to argue with that conclusion, especially given her history of handing down very light sentences for child porn perverts. She issued sentences that were far short of recommended sentencing guidelines. He also didn’t approve of her legal advocacy on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay.
“I will oppose her and I will vote ‘no,’” Graham said from the Senate floor.
“My decision is based upon her record of judicial activism, flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases and a belief Judge Jackson will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to a liberal cause,” Graham added.
This vote will mark the first time Graham votes no on a Supreme Court justice since he entered the Senate. Graham voted yes on KBJ’s nomination to the U.S. Circuit of Appeals a little more than a year ago. I predicted he would flip on his support of her and vote no on her nomination to the Supreme Court. The other two Republican votes KBJ received in her nomination for the U.S. Appeals Circuit court were Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Collins announced she is a yes. That isn’t a surprise. She has voted for all the other Supreme Court justices since she has been in the Senate, too, except for Amy Coney Barrett. Will Murkowski oppose KBJ? That question is still up in the air. She is up for re-election and Trump endorsed her opponent. She isn’t popular at home these days with Republicans so the question will likely revolve around whether or not she thinks she should vote yes to please her constituents. She may decide that a yes vote will please independent voters.
Perhaps Mitt Romney will vote yes for KBJ. He is keeping his powder dry and said he won’t say how he’ll vote until the time comes to do so. Mitt enjoys the attention showered on hold-outs.
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KBJ will get all the Democrat votes and I predict that she’ll get three yes votes from Republicans.
Collins’s support, assuming all 50 Democrats are present to support her, would let Jackson avoid a history making 50-50 tie that would need to be broken by Vice President Harris. It should be noted, though, that Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has not declared if she is a yes vote.
It’s nothing personal, Judge Jackson, it’s your history on the bench.
“I find Judge Jackson to be a person of exceptionally good character, respected by our peers and someone who has worked hard to achieve her current position,” Graham said.
“However, her record is overwhelming in its lack of a steady judicial philosophy, and a tendency to achieve outcomes in spite of what the law says. After a thorough review of Judge Jackson’s record, I now know why Judge Jackson was a favorite of the radical left,” he added.
A vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee may be held on April 4. From there it will be scheduled for a floor vote, likely before the Easter break.
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