Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the former Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said in a statement on Friday that the “radical left won,” referring to Joe Biden’s choice of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.
That could be a reference to rumors that the far-left “dark money” group Arabella Advisors has been pushing Jackson, funded by ultra-left activists like George Soros.
Jackson serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after receiving confirmation in 2021 with a vote of 53-47. Three Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted to confirm her in 2021.
Graham lamented Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court, having urged the president to nominate Michelle Childs, a judge for the U.S. District Court of South Carolina. He explained:
If media reports are accurate, and Judge Jackson has been chosen as the Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Breyer, it means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again. The attacks by the Left on Judge Childs from South Carolina apparently worked. I expect a respectful but interesting hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Harvard-Yale train to the Supreme Court continues to run unabated.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), another member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement on Friday:
President Biden’s announcement just days after an unprovoked full scale invasion by Russia is extremely inappropriate. Once again, Biden is putting the demands of the radical progressive left ahead of what is best for our nation. It is an attempt to hide that for over three months Biden refused to levy sanctions against Russia or send military assistance to Ukraine. However, I cannot hold President Biden’s failure to lead our nation against his nominee. I do plan on meeting with the President’s nominee in person, and thoroughly vetting her record to determine if she is a person of high character. A Supreme Court nominee must be committed to upholding the rule of law and Constitution as written. We must not blindly confirm a justice to serve as a rubber stamp for a radical progressive agenda.
Jackson has expressed many beliefs that many would consider leftist.
As an attorney, Jackson wrote a brief on behalf of pro-abortion groups, supporting a law that blocked pro-life advocates from approaching abortion clinics. She ruled against the Trump administration in a lawsuit challenging executive orders on the collective bargaining rights of federal employee unions.
She also overruled presidential immunity to require former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, a very troubling precedent against the idea that every person is entitled to attorney-client confidentiality when speaking with his lawyer, and that no one needs the ability to do that more than the U.S. president, regardless of political party.
Many anti-religious liberty, pro-abortion, and LGBT rights groups have endorsed Jackson.
Collins, who voted for Jackson for the D.C. Circuit, said in a statement on Friday, “Ketanji Brown Jackson is an experienced federal judge with impressive academic and legal credentials.”
She added, “I will conduct a thorough vetting of Judge Jackson’s nomination and look forward to her public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and to meeting with her in my office.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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