Biden's Supreme Court pick Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies for third day: LIVE UPDATES

The Senate Judiciary Committee is reportedly slated to vote on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination on Monday, April 4.

The committee will first consider the nomination on Monday, March 28, but they will likely not be voting because Republicans can request to hold the vote until the next meeting.

Republicans are able to further stymie Jackson's nomination by boycotting the committee vote on April 4.

"I haven't had one discussion with one Republican on that subject," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told CNN. "And I get paid to do my job and that's part of my job and I intend to earn my money."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told CNN there were "no" red flags raised regarding Jackson's nomination.

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley praised Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for declining to answer a question from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., about her representation of Gitmo detainees.

"Sen. Cotton just asked Judge Jackson if most of the detainees at Gitmo were terrorists or 'innocent goat farmers.' Jackson is in no position to offer such a judgment and she correctly declined to answer the question," wrote Turley, who is also the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University.

"I actually think her answer on her Gitmo representation has been the strongest part of her testimony. Her answer in this exchange was again strong and effective," Turley continued.

"It is important to note that these appeals were raising important constitutional issues that needed to be addressed. Hammering Jackson for representing such defendants as a public defendant or pro bono attorney is deeply troubling and wrong in my view."

Jackson represented Gitmo detainees when she served as a federal public defender from 2005 to 2007.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ripped Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as someone who “likes to get on television” after Cruz interrupted Wednesday’s hearing to try to introduce a letter demanding access to more documents concerning Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s service on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

“I waited my turn here, and I've been on this committee for 47 years,” Leahy told Cruz. “I think we ought to follow the regular order.”

“Are you not even going to allow a letter from 10 senators on this committee?” Cruz asked.

“I know the junior senator from Texas likes to get on television, but most of us have been here a long time trying to follow the rules,” Leahy responded. “Let’s get back to regular order.”

The letter, signed by ten Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, demands records concerning recommendations from the U.S. Probation Office that apparently guided Jackson’s decisions on sentencing sex offenders, Cruz said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, claimed earlier that the White House provided those records only to the Democrats on the committee, and that they were leaked to the media to “cast doubt” on legitimate questions by Republican lawmakers.

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Wednesday said she will recuse herself from an upcoming case on Harvard University allegedly discriminating against Asian-American students. 

Jackson, a member of the Harvard University Board of Overseers, made the commitment while being questioned by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in her confirmation hearing.

"That is my plan, senator," Jackson said when Cruz asked the judge if she would recuse from the case because of her association with Harvard.

For more on this story: Jackson says she'd recuse from Asian-American discrimination case against Harvard

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, March 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said “the QAnon people are nuts” when asked to weigh in on how followers of the movement have been propping up his and his Republican colleagues’ comments about child pornography sentencing during the Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings.

“Well I promise you this, that I think the Q Anon people are nuts,” Graham told reporters during a brief recess of Wednesday’s hearing. “This is about deterring behavior.”

“This is not about QAnon,” he continued. “This is about a societal problem. The internet has up to 85 million images of sexually abused children routinely being downloaded, and when the people are caught, they need to be punished more severely."

Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Dick Durbin , D-Ill., got into a heated exchange during Wednesday’s hearing after Cruz went over his allotted time questioning Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about her sentencing of child pornography offenders.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday whether it’s possible for him to change his race in order to bring a race-based discrimination claim.

“If I can change my gender, if I can be a woman and then an hour later, if I decide I’m not a woman anymore, I guess I would lose Article III standing. Tell me, does that same principle apply to other protected characteristics?” Cruz said.

"For example,” he continued, “I'm an Hispanic man. Could I decide I was an Asian man, would I be able to be an Asian man and challenge Harvard's discrimination because I made that decision?”"Senator, I'm not able to answer your question,” responded Jackson, who sits on the Harvard Board of Overseers. “You’re asking me about hypotheticals.”

Jackson later said, “I would assess standing the way I assess other legal issues, which is to listen to the arguments made by the parties, consider the relevant precedents and constitutional principles involved and make a determination.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans continued to hammer Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for her sentences as a federal court judge and accused her being too lenient on criminals – a charge that Democrats and Biden's Supreme Court nominee refuted. 

The issue of her child pornography sentences again came to a head on Wednesday with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., leading a combative line of questioning with Jackson where he accused her of being "wrong" on her approach to sentencing internet-based child porn crimes and said he hoped such criminals would "go to jail for 50 years."

He took particular issue with Jackson saying she imposed lengthy periods of supervision and restrictions on their computer use as a means for deterrence – in addition to her criminal jail sentence that Graham has deemed too light in several cases.

For more on this story: Senators spar on 'soft on crime;' Jackson defends child porn sentences

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., questions Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Bidens nominee for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court, on the second day of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Republicans promised that during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing they would go after Jackson’s record, which is exactly what Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., did Wednesday when he accused Jackson of being an activist judge when she ruled against the Trump administration in a 2019 immigration case.

The case, Make the Road New York v. McAleenan, involved whether the Department of Homeland Security acted properly in expanding the eligibility of expedited removal from the U.S. to illegal immigrants who had been in the country from up to two years, when it had previously only been for those in the country for 14 days or less and who were found near the border.

Graham noted that the statute in question clearly gave the administration the discretion to set the length of time when a person would be eligible for expedited authority, calling into question Jackson’s ruling, which was ultimately overturned by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

For more on this story: Graham grills Jackson on overruled decision on Trump immigration policy: 'Exhibit A of activism'

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The legislative arm of Concerned Women for America is calling on senators to oppose the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson after she refused to define the word “woman” during an exchange Tuesday with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

“How can we trust a justice to protect women’s rights when she denies the unique dignity of women?” Penny Nance, the CEO and president of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC), said in a press release Wednesday. “According to Judge Brown Jackson, one must be a biologist in order to do that. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t pass the straight-face test."

“Judge Brown Jackson showed a complete lack of wisdom and discernment and instead an embrace of gender theory politics when she chose to deny obvious biological differences between men and women,” Nance continued. “Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s question was very simple and deserved a direct answer. The idea of entrusting someone who has trouble identifying women with a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land is ludicrous. This issue should be nonpartisan."

Nance said senators should call on President Biden to withdraw Jackson’s nomination, adding, “He considered multiple women for this important position; let him pick a woman who at least knows how to define ‘woman.’”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson got into a heated exchange Wednesday over sentencing for child porn offenders.

Senate Judicary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-IL) holds a copy of the U.S. Constitution as he questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, March 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearing Wednesday began with a testy exchange on GOP complaints about Sen. Dick Durbin's "editorial comments" – which he defended as his privilege to make. 

But the tension quickly dissipated when Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., the least senior member of the Senate, admonished his fellow senators to stop "bickering." 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, began the exchange by lamenting that Durbin, D-Ill., the chairman of the committee, consistently undermined Republican senators' comments Tuesday after they questioned Jackson.

For more on this story: Republicans criticize Durbin's handling of Jackson Supreme Court hearings as he defends 'chairman's time'

The third day of Supreme Court confirmation hearings Wednesday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson kicked off with disputes among senators whether the White House was withholding documents from Republicans and whether Jackson was too soft on crime. 

But Jackson, with the help of Democrats on Senate Judiciary Committee, sought to pivot to her personal biography by highlighting how far the country has come on civil rights with her parents growing up in "Florida under lawful segregation" and now, a generation later, she's having the opportunity to become the nation's 116th Supreme Court justice. 

"What my being here," Jackson told the senators, "… is about the progress that we've made in this country in a very short period of time," Jackson said.

Fox more on this story: Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation: Senators spar on 'soft on crime;' Jackson touts civil rights 'progress'

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., assured Judge Jackson Wednesday that she can “relax” during his line of questioning.

“Judge Jackson, you can relax for a bit. I voted for you for the D.C. Circuit,” Whitehouse said. “I’m prepared to not only support you but to let you know that I will be very proud and very honored and very excited to support you.”

Whitehouse went on to say that he’s “bothered” by Republicans suggesting Jackson needs to have a judicial philosophy.

“I didn't know you needed to have one,” he said. “I actually thought that when you're dealing with the Constitution, your oath of office, the constitutional precedence and the Constitution itself kind of gave you your guide path. … So the fact that Judge Jackson has said, I don't have a judicial philosophy, I've got a judicial methodology, doesn't bother me a bit.”

Judge Jackson said she doesn’t know whether a 20-week-old unborn child can feel pain.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked the Supreme Court nominee: “Can an unborn child feel pain at 20 weeks in the birthing process?”

“Senator, I don't know,” Jackson replied.

“Are you aware of the fact that anesthesia is provided to the unborn child at that time period if there's an operation to save the baby's life, because they can, in fact, feel pain? Are you aware that?” Graham asked.

“I am not aware of that,” Jackson responded.

“Well, that may come before you one day,” Graham responded. “So just keep an open mind.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is demanding records concerning recommendations from the U.S. Probation Office that apparently guided Judge Jackson’s decisions on sentencing sex offenders while she served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Grassley claims the White House provided those records only to the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that they were leaked to the media to “cast doubt” on legitimate questions by Republican lawmakers.

“No one on our side of the aisle had access to this information,” Grassley said. “In fact, before this past week, I'm not sure anyone but the Probation Office and the court had access to this information.

“To suggest that all that we have to do is ask for information, doesn't pass muster,” he continued. “You can’t ask for information you don't know exists. I've asked for nonpublic records related to the judge's tenure on the sentencing Commission. Those have not been produced just like 48,000 pages of records withheld by the White House. How is the United States Senate supposed to review a record that we don't have? This process might be timely, but it's neither thorough or fair to the American public, and I hope we can rectify that.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., slammed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s responses in her Supreme Court confirmation hearings as “evasive and unclear."

“Judge Jackson is receiving a calm, respectful process, unlike the treatment that Senate Democrats typically inflict on a Republican president's nominees,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “But unfortunately, thus far, many of Judge Jackson's responses have been evasive and unclear. She's declined to address critically important questions and ameliorate real concerns. First and foremost is a simple question of court packing – the far-left fringe groups that promoted Judge Jackson for this vacancy want Democrats to destroy the court's legitimacy through partisan court-packing or unconstitutional term limits.

“She was literally the court-packer's pick for the seat, and she has repeatedly refused to reject their position,” he said, referring to the Demand Justice, a left-wing advocacy group.

“Jackson also displayed a remarkable lack of candor during basic questions about judicial philosophy,” McConnell continued. “When I ask about judicial philosophy, the nominee tried to punt by simply restating the most basic elements of a jobs judge's job description. She said she looks at the facts for each litigant fairly. That's not explaining a judicial philosophy that's just rewarding the judicial oath. It's basically a non-answer.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., accused his Republican colleagues of trying to get a “sound bite” out of Judge Jackson’s confirmation hearings in hopes of furthering their own political aspirations.

“I want you to know the reaction in my own state of Vermont – I've gotten all kinds of emails and calls from friends across the political spectrum, and they’ve all been praising you,” Leahy told the Supreme Court nominee. “And they said they realize that a lot of the questions that were lobbed at you had nothing at all to do with your qualities as being on the Supreme Court but were some members unfortunately aiming for a sound bite that they might be able to put on a political website, where it now is.

“For example, we heard some overheated claims,” he continued. “They asked if your representation on Guantanamo detainees somehow signaled your policy preference with how the United States has dealt with those detainees. Every single member of this committee, especially those of us who have been assigned as counsel in cases, should know better than to complain that a nominee's past representation are their policy positions or to argue that a nominee espoused their client’s viewpoint simply by choosing to represent them.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, warned against court-packing during "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday, as Judge Jackson dodges questions on the issue during her testimony on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Lee called the move "destructive to the very constitutional fabric of our country" as it remains unclear where Judge Jackson stands should she become the next associate justice of the Supreme Court.

For more on this story: Mike Lee on Judge Jackson dodging questions on court-packing: 'It leaves a mark'

Justice Clarence Thomas was absent from the courtroom again Wednesday, as Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson entered her third day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Thomas, 73, was hospitalized Friday night after experiencing “flu-like” symptoms. The Supreme Court said Monday that Thomas did not have COVID-19.

At the beginning of oral arguments Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts said Thomas was "unable to be present” but would still participate in the decision based on written materials and recordings of the arguments, NPR reported.

US Republican Senator Thom Tillis shows a chart as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies on her nomination to become an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, during the third day of a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 23, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., countered Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., with a chart of his own about left-wing dark money groups who seek to influence the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court.

“I've a decided to use the Whitehouse format for dark money,” Tillis said, eliciting an audible laugh from Judge Jackson, “so that we have a balanced understanding of the fact that our proceedings here, the aspirations for the court, that there is an ecosystem out there on both sides.”

“The point that I make here is that we've seen this ecosystem mobilized to support you,” Tillis continued. “And I think, Judge Jackson, you said you haven't had any encounter with Demand Justice. I don't know if you've had any encounter with some of these … either acronyms or abbreviated [groups]. … It would be interesting if we could, for the record, determine if you have had any interactions.”

“I have not, senator,” Jackson responded. “I've never seen most of those.”

“ That's good enough for me,” Tillis said. “I wouldn't expect you to, to be honest, sitting on the bench. But they are out there, and they have a specific plan.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted during Wednesday's hearing that Jackson has a "record of activism" concerning sexual predators.

The senator included a video of his questioning of Jackson on Tuesday, which highlighted her past views on the sentencing of sex offenders.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has released its list of witnesses to speak with lawmakers on Thursday, which will wrap up the four-day confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The list includes Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Alabama's Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall.

Jackson will not be in attendance for Thursday's session.

In reaction to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, committee member Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that claims the jurist is not an activist are still up for debate.

Graham, of South Carolina, told "The Ingraham Angle" that the bevy of activist liberal groups lobbying for her confirmation bring up legitimate questions as to whether she is a neutral jurist.

During the hearing, Graham noted how those same groups favored her over Michelle Childs.

Click here to read more on Fox News.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) speaks at the start of the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Capitol Hill on March 04, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said during his opening remarks Wednesday morning that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson doesn’t fit the Republican stereotype of a “Harvard grad Black woman.”

“The overwhelming majority of senators on both sides, I thought were asking appropriate questions and positive in their approach and respectful of the nominee before us,” Durbin said. “But for many of senators, yesterday was an opportunity to showcase talking points for the November election. For example, all Democrats are soft on crime. Therefore, this nominee must be soft on crime.

“Well, you've made a mess of their stereotype,” he said, speaking to Jackson. “The endorsement of the Fraternal Order Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police just doesn't fit with their stereotype of a Harvard grad Black woman who is aspiring to the highest court in the land.

“But you earned it,” he continued. “Law enforcement is on your side because you've been on their side at critical moments and your family has dedicated a big part of their lives to law enforcement. And you obviously believe it at your core, said that over and over again. So the soft on crime charge, which leads all others, falls on its face.”

It's not a cakewalk, but Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings are a far cry from the Kavanaugh treatment. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans – still seething over how Democrats treated Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 hearings – kicked off Jackson's confirmation assuring her that she wouldn't be subject to "that disgraceful behavior," as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said. 

Since then, Jackson has faced tough and substantive questions on the law and judicial philosophy. But there have been no outbursts, interruptions or character attacks.

Click here to read more on Fox News.

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said that she is unable to define what a woman is.

During the waning hours of her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Jackson was asked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., to provide a definition for the word "woman."

"Can I provide a definition?" Jackson said. "No. I can't."

"You can't?" Blackburn asked, to which Jackson replied, "Not in this context, I'm not a biologist.

"During previous questioning from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., Jackson also claimed she doesn't know when life begins or when the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution become applicable to a person.

Click here to read more on Fox News.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are expressing frustration with Senate Democrats and alleging that key documents related to the confirmation process of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson have not been shared with them.

Fox News anchor Shannon Bream reported Tuesday that Republicans are expressing "outrage" over how long Democrats have been in possession of "sealed documents" related to Jackson’s record and have alleged that key documents have not been shared with them in a timely manner.

Click here to read more.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned President Biden's Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday over her sentencings for child pornography offenders that some have argued were too lenient.

Referencing a case in which she sentenced an 18-year-old to only three months in federal prison on prepubescent child pornography charges that Jackson conceded were "heinous" and "egregious," Hawley pinpointed elements of her ruling that made him question who she thought the victim in the case was.

"You also said to this individual, who is an adult—tried as an adult, 18 years old—you also said to him, besides saying that you thought his victims were his peers, you also said, 'There's no reason to think that you are a pedophile,'" Hawley asked.

Hawley further said he needed help understanding Jackson's point of view when she wrote, "This is a truly difficult situation. I appreciate that your family's in the audience. I feel so sorry for them, and for you and for the anguish this has caused all of you. I feel terrible about the collateral consequences of this conviction."

"And then you go on to say sex offenders are truly shunned in our society," Hawley went on, adding, "I'm just trying to figure out, judge, is he the victim here or the victims the victims?"

Click here to read more.

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Tuesday she doesn't know when life begins or when the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution become applicable to a person.

"When does life begin, in your opinion?" asked Sen. John Kennedy, R-La."Senator, I don't know," Jackson replied, adding, "I have personal religious and otherwise beliefs that have nothing to do with the law, in terms of when life begins."

She went on to say that she sets aside her personal views on the issue when she is ruling on cases.

Kennedy further pressed Jackson to explain when she believes equal protection of the law attaches to a human being, to which she responded, "I actually don't know the answer to that question, I'm sorry."

Click here for Tuesday's live coverage.