Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley is blasting Democrats for breaking normal process to thoroughly vet and question Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson is President Joe Biden's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
"Vetting a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the high court is serious business. The American people rightly expect a full and thorough vetting process. We should not sacrifice the integrity of our constitutional advice and consent responsibility to meet an arbitrary timeline. The Court's next term doesn't begin until October, so there's absolutely no need to rush," Grassley released in a statement.
Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin announced Jackson's confirmation hearing will start on March 21. According to Grassley, the timeline leading up to the hearings has been truncated.
"When Grassley chaired the committee during its consideration of Justice Kavanaugh's nomination, he announced the hearing dates a full month after the nomination was made, and after documents from Kavanaugh's government service had been requested and released," Grassley's office notes. "For recent Supreme Court nominees who've had prior federal government service, the committee's pre-hearing vet process has taken, on average, 53 days to allow sufficient time to receive and review records related to the nominee's government service. Chairman Durbin's proposed timeline allows for only 24 days – less than half the normal timeline for recent nominees with prior government service."
Further, Grassley argues Jackson's full record must be adequately examined given a seat on the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment.
"Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's prior service on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and as a federal public defender, including her time representing a Guantanamo Bay detainee, warrant the same scrutiny provided to the government records of other Supreme Court nominees," Grassley's office states. "Announcing a hearing date before even seeking these records in order to meet an ahistoric timeline risks casting doubt on the thoroughness of the vetting process."
In 2020, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by President Donald Trump and the Supreme Court's most recent addition, was announced and seated on the court in 30 days.