Mitt Romney And Lisa Murkowski Announce They Will Vote To Confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

Sens. Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski have announced that they will join Sen. Susan Collins as Republican votes to confirm Biden SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Sen. Romney made his announcement via a statement on Twitter:

Romney called Jackson a well-qualified jurist and a person of honor. He also said that she more than meets the standards for excellence and integrity for a Supreme Court nominee.

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Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) said in a statement:

After multiple in-depth conversations with Judge Jackson and deliberative review of her record and recent hearings, I will support her historic nomination to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

My support rests on Judge Jackson’s qualifications, which no one questions; her demonstrated judicial independence; her demeanor and temperament; and the important perspective she would bring to the court as a replacement for Justice Breyer. She clerked for Justice Breyer before working in the private sector and as a federal public defender, and then serving as Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, a district court judge, and now an appeals court judge. She will bring to the Supreme Court a range of experience from the courtroom that few can match given her background in litigation.  

I also rests on my rejection of the corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees, which, on both sides of the aisle, is growing worse and more detached from reality by the year. While I have not and will not agree with all of Judge Jackson’s decisions and opinions, her approach to cases is carefully considered and is generally well-reasoned. She answered satisfactorily to my questions about matters like the Chevron doctrine, the Second Amendment, landmark Alaska laws, and Alaska Native issues. The support she has received from law enforcement agencies around the country is significant and demonstrates the judge is one who brings balance to her decisions.

I will support the motion to discharge Judge Jackson’s nomination later tonight, and her confirmation later this week.

Judge Jackson will get more confirmation votes than both of Trump’s last two Supreme Court nominees. Barrett got 52 confirmation votes, and Kavanaugh got 50.

Jackson will get at least 53 votes. Her confirmation will be bipartisan, as the efforts of some Senate Republicans to paint Biden’s nominee as a radical extremist has flopped.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association