Thread by @jbendery

Good morning. ☕️

The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently holding its hearing to advance Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the full Senate.

I expect every Republican to vote no.

Also, these same Republicans who I expect to unanimously vote against advancing Jackson's nomination today also previously voted for her once, twice, or even three times (hi Lindsey Graham) to Senate-confirmed posts.

Graham talking now, saying Jackson will mark "the first time I've ever voted against any Supreme Court nominee."

He says he was turned off by her support from "the radical Left."*

*He voted to confirm Jackson in June to the D.C. Circuit, the 2nd-most powerful court in the U.S.

Graham now talking critically of Jackson's record of meting out punishments in child porn cases -- a favorite talking point of Republicans.

They have wildly, unfairly mischaracterized her record on this, which is well within the mainstream. huffpost.com/entry/ketanji-…

Graham is now back to saying it's unfair that Dems want to confirm Jackson, a Black woman, but decades ago rejected a Black conservative judicial nominee, Janice Rogers Brown.

Also a favorite GOP talking point. But....

Graham has repeatedly brought up Dems opposing Brown's nomination in the early 2000s.

But Dems opposed Rogers over her "judicial philosophy dedicated to decimating the social safety net, environmental protections and women’s reproductive freedoms," per a Senate Dem aide.

Rogers Brown was "far outside the judicial mainstream," says this Senate Dem aide.

Groups who opposed Rogers Brown at the time:

Congressional Black Caucus
NAACP
Leadership Conference
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
National Organization for Women
AFL-CIO

Then-Senator Obama at the time, “In almost every legal decision that she has made and every political speech that she has given, Justice Brown has shown she is not simply a judge with very strong political views, she is a political activist who happens to be a judge.”

In other words -- and hear me out on this -- all Black female judicial nominees are not the same.

Lofty speeches by everyone in here, but this hearing is almost certainly going to be a tied vote, 11-11, along party lines.

That means Jackson's nomination will advance, but only after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer uses a procedural maneuver to force it outta the committee.

I haven't heard any Rs say "Demand Justice" yet, the progressive judicial advocacy group they like to say is "radical" + associate with Jackson, even tho she has nothing to do with them.

I have to believe Demand Justice has eaten up all the GOP attention (+ raised $ off it).

Mike Lee up, also talking about Janice Rogers Brown + saying it's unfair that Ds opposed her.

"If you're going to make it about inclusiveness, let's remember to be inclusive in our discussion of inclusiveness."

(Dems opposed her for being far outside the judicial mainstream.)

Lee back on child porn.

The GOP's whole game has been to talk about how awful child porn is, and then say Jackson wasn't tough enough on child sex offenders -- part of the GOP's overall "soft on crime" messaging this year.

Except her record is well within the mainstream.

Ted Cruz is up, also complaining about Ds opposing Janice Rogers Brown in the early 2000s.

Again, groups who opposed Rogers Brown:

Congressional Black Caucus
NAACP
Leadership Conference
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
National Organization for Women
AFL-CIO

Cruz complains that, unlike Brett Kavanaugh, Jackson was not pressed about her high school yearbook.

"Not a single Republican senator asked her about her high school yearbook."

Unlike Kavanaugh, Jackson was not credibly accused of sexual assault in high school.

A reminder of Ted Cruz's real impact on the Supreme Court confirmation process:

He railed against an anti-racism children's book during Jackson's hearing -- and made it a #1 bestseller on Amazon. huffpost.com/entry/ted-cruz…

😂

As these committee speeches go on for who knows how long, a reminder that Jackson 1) already has the votes to be confirmed by Dems alone and 2) has at least one GOPer ready to vote for her, too: Susan Collins.

These speeches are just speeches for the sake of speeches. #speeches

Jackson's committee vote won't be for a while guys.

"Due to a passenger medical emergency, Senator Padilla’s flight was turned back and returned to LAX, delaying his arrival to Washington. He boarded the first available flight this morning and will arrive this afternoon."

That's from Padilla's office.

He's a member of the Judiciary Committee and Dems need his vote to advance Jackson's nomination today.

Tom Cotton is up. He just said Jackson has "built her career as a far-left activist."

Jackson was *unanimously* confirmed by the Senate to her previous seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Cotton also just said Jackson likes to help terrorists.

Here's a new letter from the The Leadership Conference -- a coalition of more than 230 national civil and human rights orgs -- along with 55 other orgs denouncing GOP senators "insidious behavior and unfounded attacks" on Ketanji Brown Jackson.
civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/judicial-n…

"I'm a realist, I know that she's going to be confirmed," GOP Sen. Thom Tillis says.

He raves and raves about her, and yet, says he can't support her.

"I just wish her family very well."

Tillis says he met Jackson's parents at her confirmation hearing and "told them they clearly raised her right."

"She's the realization of an American dream."

Tillis says he is opposing Jackson because of "future decisions where I believe ... that Justice Jackson may go in a direction that runs counter to much of what we talked about today."

🤷‍♀️

"What you do is what you believe. And everything else is just cottage cheese." -- Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), 4/4/2022

Durbin laying out today's plan for the committee vote, noting Padilla is out because of flight delays.

Says committee will recess til Padilla is back this afternoon to vote on Jackson. Time TBD.

And... committee is in recess now.

Sen. Padilla is back in DC after flight delays.

The Judiciary Committee can now get back to holding its vote to advance Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the full Senate.

And... here we go!

DONE: The Senate Judiciary Committee just voted to send Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the full Senate.

11-11 tied vote, as expected, along party lines.
huffpost.com/entry/supreme-…

Next step:

Because it's a tied vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will use a procedural maneuver (a discharge petition) to force Jackson's nomination outta the committee and onto the Senate floor.

It adds a little time to the process, but not much.

I think this is what we're looking at this week re: Jackson's confirmation:

Tonight: Senate votes on discharge motion, followed by Schumer filing cloture.

~30 hours go by~

Weds: Cloture vote.

~30 hours go by~

Thursday: Final confirmation vote.

I'm told my timeline is wrong. Apparently this is more right:

Tonight: Senate votes on discharge motion.

Tuesday: Schumer files cloture.

~wait an “intervening day”~

Thursday morning: Cloture vote.

~up to 30 hours of debate~

Thursday, later: Final confirmation vote (likely).