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Last week, I laid out three reasons senators should think twice before giving Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson a premature vote of support. She has since made their decisions much easier, making it clear that lawmakers must vote against her nomination for the sake of the Supreme Court and the integrity of our judiciary.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell revealed this weekend that Jackson refused to object to court packing when she met with him earlier this month. He said he asked Jackson to “defend the court” by opposing the Left’s attempts to expand the bench. “She wouldn’t do that,” he said, noting it “would have been an easy thing for [Jackson] to do to defend the integrity of the court.”
He’s right. Opposition to court packing is not a controversial or even political position. In fact, it’s one held by two of the most persuasive liberal justices to have recently sat on the bench: Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. That Jackson refused to make a commitment similar to Ginsburg’s and Breyer’s suggests she has a far more radical view of the court and its role than they did.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Jackson was, after all, the favorite of a number of leftist dark money groups, each of which has openly advocated court packing. For example, one of the organizations that pushed the Biden administration to nominate Jackson, Demand Justice, has argued the Supreme Court is “too biased in favor of … Republican politicians” and that adding “four seats” is the only “solution.” Undoubtedly, they see Jackson as an ally in this effort.
Jackson will almost certainly be pressed on this topic during her confirmation hearings this week, which means she will have the chance to clarify her position and assure the public that she will defend the court’s integrity, regardless of what the Left might want her to do. If she refuses, the Senate must vote against her and tell President Joe Biden to go back to the drawing board.
Opinion by Kaylee McGhee White for The Washington Examiner.
