McConnell says he 'cannot and will not' support Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday said he entered this week "with an open mind" about Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, but because she "refuses to reject the fringe position that Democrats should try to pack the Supreme Court," he will vote against her nomination.

Speaking from the Senate floor, McConnell said "after studying the nominee's record and watching her performance this week, I cannot and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court." McConnell, who in 2021 voted against Jackson's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, was not expected to support her nomination.

McConnell said a question about expanding the court should have been "an easy softball" for Jackson to answer during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday. When asked if she supports adding more justices to the Supreme Court, Jackson declined to respond, saying, "Again, my north star is the consideration of the proper role of a judge in our constitutional scheme. And in my view, judges should not be speaking to political issues and certainly not a nominee for a position on the Supreme Court."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Jackson also noted that Justice Amy Coney Barrett similarly declined to comment on the matter during her 2020 confirmation hearings.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely vote on Jackson's nomination on April 4, with the full Senate vote expected in late April.