Senate Judiciary committee votes on party lines — 11-11 — on Jackson’s nomination

GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have been citing similar reasons Monday for voting against Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation. 

Republicans on the panel are expected to be united in their opposition of the nominee when they vote later Monday.

Here’s a look at some of the points Republicans have been raising in their remarks:

Lack of judicial philosophy: Jackson’s refusal to align herself with any specific judicial philosophy – like the originalist or textualism – has been cited by several Republicans.  

“We don’t expect a nominee to say that they will agree with a specific justice 100% of the time, but it’s not asking too much that a nominee be able to explain the justice’s approach to the law and where they might differ,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said. 

Democrats have countered that some GOP appointees for the high court, like Chief Justice John Roberts, also did not identify themselves as following a particular judicial philosophy. 

Supposedly soft on crime: Republicans on Monday attacked Jackson for being “lenient” towards criminal offenders in her sentencing, with some committee members continuing their focus on her record on child pornography cases. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, for instance touted charts that he said showed that her average sentence in certain categories of these cases was below the national average, while Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, discussed the “policy disagreements” Jackson has shown with what the sentencing guidelines instruct doing in those cases.

Democrats pushed back on those complaints by arguing that Republicans have supported GOP appointed judges who exhibited similar sentencing tendencies towards those types of defendants. They also touted the endorsements Jackson has received from a variety of law enforcement and victims’ rights groups.   

“To say she’s an extremist on crime belies the fact that she has law enforcement group after law enforcement group supporting her,” Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, said. 

A Trump era immigration ruling: As Republicans labeled Jackson a “radical” and an “activist” judge, they’ve zeroed in one decision in particular she issued as a district court judge, when she ruled against a Trump-era immigration policy that expanded the categories of noncitizens that may be subjected to expedited deportation procedures. Her decision was overturned on appeal. 

“The Make the Road case demonstrated her willingness to put left wing policy above the law,” Cruz said, referring the the immigration case.