Mitt Romney, a potential GOP vote for Ketanji Brown Jackson, says he ‘enjoyed’ their meeting and will continue to review her record

• Sen. Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he “enjoyed” his meeting with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
• Romney did not say whether he’ll support Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
• The moderate senator is widely considered a potential swing vote for Jackson’s confirmation.

Sen. Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he “enjoyed” his meeting with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson but did not reveal whether he plans to support her nomination for the Supreme Court. 

“Judge Jackson and I had a wide-ranging discussion about her experience and qualifications. Her dedication to public service and her family are obvious, and I enjoyed our meeting,” the Utah Republican said in a statement after the two met on Capitol Hill.

“I appreciate the time she spent answering my questions, which was helpful as I continue my review of her record and testimony,” Romney added.

The moderate Republican is widely considered a potential swing vote for Jackson’s confirmation, along with other moderate GOP senators, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Romney did not vote for Jackson’s confirmation to her current seat on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which President Joe Biden appointed her to roughly a year ago. Though Romney told CNN on Monday that he hasn’t yet decided on how he’ll vote for Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination.

Like several Republicans, Romney indicated that consideration for the Supreme Court is much higher stakes than for the lower federal court, and requires a rigorous review.

“I have begun a deeper dive, a much deeper dive than I had during the prior evaluation,” Romney told CNN, adding, “In this case, as well, she’s gone into much more depth talking about her judicial philosophy that she had before. And we’re, of course, looking at her judicial record, as a district judge and as an appellate judge, in far more depth than we had before.”

Romney’s comments come after Jackson’s four days of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Jackson fielded a slew of questions from Republican senators on her record and her judicial philosophy.

Romney is not a member of the committee, but at the time he pushed back on some of his Republican colleagues’ criticisms raised during the hearings. Particularly, several GOP senators grilled Jackson over her record in several child-pornography cases because she imposed shorter sentences than the federal guidelines recommended. Some Republicans claimed that her record is “soft on crime” and “endangers our children.” Legal experts have rejected the claims, saying they lack key context and data that shows Jackson’s conduct was within the mainstream of federal judges, and that the federal guidelines are outdated and overly severe.

“It struck me that it was off course, meaning the attacks were off course that came from some,” Romney told The Washington Post last Tuesday. “And there is no there, there.”

The committee will soon hold a vote for Jackson’s nomination, which will later head to the full Senate. Democrats only need a simple-majority and can confirm Jackson without any GOP support, though congressional leaders and the White House have said they hope Jackson will receive a bipartisan confirmation. If confirmed, Jackson will become the first Black woman in US history to sit on the Supreme Court.