Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) announced on Monday that they will vote to confirm President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The senators’ announcements came just hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee tied by partisan lines, 11-11, to advance Jackson’s nomination. Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) moved to discharge Jackson’s nomination to the full Senate after the deadlock vote.
Murkowski cited Jackson’s “demeanor and temperament” as reasons why she would vote to confirm her. “After multiple in-depth conversations with Judge Jackson and deliberative review of her record and recent hearings, I will support her historic nomination to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court,” Murkowski said.
Murkowski voted against Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) speaks during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing for presidential appointees, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Full Lisa Murkowski statement on why she'll vote for Ketanji Brown Jackson. She's now the second Republican to back her for SCOTUS, joining Susan Collins. pic.twitter.com/1e2qQGn62Z
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 4, 2022
“My support rests on Judge Jackson’s qualifications, which no one questions; her demonstrated judicial independence; her demeanor and temperament; and the important perspective she would bring to the court as a replacement for Justice Breyer,” she added.
Murkowski also called out the “corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees” in her statement.
“It also rests on my rejection of the corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees, which, on both sides of the aisle, is growing worse and more detached from reality by the year,” Murkowski said.
A large portion of Jackson’s confirmation hearings were devoted to her lenient sentencing record of child sex offenders after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) exposed multiple occasions where Jackson gave severely lower sentences than what federal guidelines and federal prosecutors called for.
Murkowski noted she does “not agree with all of Judge Jackson’s decisions and opinions,” but called her approach to cases “carefully considered” and “generally well-reasoned.”
“I will support the motion to discharge Judge Jackson’s nomination later tonight, and her confirmation later this week,” Murkowski concluded.
Sen. Romney called Jackson a “well-qualified jurist and a person of honor” in a statement confirming his support for Biden’s nominee.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) asks questions during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 30, 2021. (Greg Nash/AFP via Getty Images)
I intend to vote in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. My statement: pic.twitter.com/uGaxx8sJn5
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) April 4, 2022
“After reviewing Judge Jackson’s record and testimony, I have concluded that she is a well-qualified jurist and a person of honor,” Romney said. “While I do not expect to agree with every decision she may make on the Court, I believe that she more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity.”
“I congratulate Judge Jackson on her expected confirmation and look forward to her continued service to our nation,” he concluded.
In addition to Sens. Romney and Murkowski, Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced she would vote to confirm Jackson last week.
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