Oklahoma senators oppose Supreme Court nominee
Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford met in Washington on Thursday with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson and made official their opposition. The two Republicans said they did not support Jackson’s judicial philosophy and views.
Jackson, 51, a U.S. circuit court judge, is expected to be confirmed as an associate justice some time in April with mostly Democratic support. She was nominated by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to replace retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who was nominated by former President Bill Clinton in 1994 and confirmed by the Senate.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held confirmation hearings last week for Jackson, a former public defender. Neither Inhofe nor Lankford serve on the committee. They met with Jackson on Capitol Hill. If confirmed, Jackson will be the first Black female justice on the court.
“I’ve been clear about my position on Judge Jackson’s judicial philosophy since I opposed her nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court last year,” Lankford said. “A Supreme Court nomination is a lifetime appointment. We should make sure any justice is committed to limited government, the original interpretation of the Constitution, and a clear dedication to impartial justice.
“After meeting with Judge Jackson, I cannot state that I see that commitment. I have major concerns about past judicial activism, even cases where Judge Jackson has ignored the clear and explicit law written by Congress. I will oppose her confirmation next week.”
Lankford will be voting for the first time on a Democratic president’s nominee for the high court. He was not in the Senate when Breyer and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were confirmed.
He was in the Senate in 2016 when Republicans blocked consideration of Merrick Garland, a nominee of former President Barack Obama.
Inhofe was not in the Senate for Breyer’s confirmation vote. He opposed Sotomayor and Kagan.
“While I enjoyed meeting Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and think she is a fine and decent person, I have sincere reservations with her nomination to serve a lifetime appointment on the highest court in the land,” Inhofe said Thursday.
“I went into this meeting with an open mind, but after our meeting, and in consideration of her record and insufficient responses to serious questions posed to her by my fellow senators, I believe she would serve as a rubber-stamp for liberal activists’ agenda, which is inconsistent with our laws and the interests of the people of Oklahoma and across the nation.
Polls show high approval for Jackson’s nomination. Initial public support for her confirmation “ties as the highest Gallup has measured for any recent nominee,” the Gallup organization said. “Fifty-eight percent of Americans say the Senate should vote in favor of Jackson serving on the Supreme Court. Only current Chief Justice John Roberts, at 59% in 2005, had a level of support on par with that for Jackson.”
A recent poll by Marquette Law School showed two-thirds of Americans surveyed would vote for her confirmation.
Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said Thursday that Jackson’s record was “outstanding and stellar.”
“If you want to be the first, you have to be the best,” Durbin said. “She is the best. Despite some of the things that have been thrown at her today and in other places, the American people came out of that hearing and felt better and stronger about her nomination than before the hearing began.”