McConnell says he is undecided on backing Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court

• McConnell said on Sunday that he remained undecided about confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
• While on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” McConnell described his talk with Jackson in positive terms.
• McConnell noted that Jackson didn’t express a position when he asked about “court packing.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday said he has not yet made a final decision on whether to vote in support of Ketanji Brown Jackson to succeed Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.

During an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” McConnell described his meeting with Jackson on positive terms but noted that he was going to pay close attention to her record during her confirmation hearing, which is slated to begin this week.

If Jackson is confirmed, she will become the first Black woman in US history to serve on the high court.

“We had a very good conversation in my office and I asked her, you know — typically these Supreme Court nominees of both parties have never answered any of the questions. What they typically say is that something might come before me and I don’t want to prejudge how I might actually vote,” he said.

McConnell then noted that while Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer spoke out against “court packing,” where the High Court would be expanded with additional seats, Jackson did not make her feelings known about the issue during their discussion.

“She wouldn’t do that,” he said. “So in the meantime, the committee will ask her all the tough questions. I haven’t made a final decision as to how I’m going to vote.”

He continued: “I’m gonna listen to the evidence, I’m gonna listen to the hearings, and by the way, she’ll be treated much better than Democrats have typically treated Republican nominees like Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh. It’ll be a respectful, deep dive into her record which I think is entirely appropriate for a lifetime appointment.”

Thomas, who has served on the court since 1991, faced accusations of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings, while Kavanaugh, who joined the court in 2018, confronted sexual assault allegations.

Both men denied the accusations, but their confirmations were rife with dissension, particularly from Democratic lawmakers and liberal activists.

McConnell himself has been one of the most polarizing figures during judicial confirmations in the modern history of the Senate.

While serving as majority leader in 2016 during then-President Barack Obama’s last full year in office, he blocked the president’s nomination of now-US Attorney General Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court after the death of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia.

McConnell held the vacancy open until after the 2016 presidential election, allowing then-President Donald Trump to nominate jurist Neil Gorsuch in 2017. He was swiftly confirmed by the Senate, which at the time was still controlled by Republicans.

Trump was also able to appoint Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court after the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, as well as Amy Coney Barrett, who was quickly nominated and confirmed weeks after the death of liberal jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

While Trump was in office, McConnell also appointed scores of conservatives to the federal bench, in many cases filling vacancies that were left open during the Obama years, much to the consternation of Democrats.

However, since President Joe Biden took office, Senate Democrats have confirmed a record number of judges to the bench, the highest tally for a first-year president since Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s.