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Sen. Roy Blunt on Sunday became the latest Republican to come out in opposition to Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, saying he disagrees with her judicial stance.
“My sense is that the president certainly had every good intention and every, every right in the campaign to talk about putting the first black woman on the court. I think it’s time for that to happen,” the Missouri Republican said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I was hoping that I could be a part of that.”
But he said he found in conversations he had with Jackson on Capitol Hill last week that while the DC federal circuit court judge was “certainly qualified” and has a “great personality,” her judicial views gave him pause.
“The judicial philosophy seems to be not the philosophy of looking at what the law says, and the Constitution says, and applying that, but going through some method that allows you to try to look at the Constitution as a more flexible document, and even the law, and there are cases that show that that’s a her view,” Blunt said.
The senator said he thinks she will “certainly” be confirmed and that it will a “high point” for the country to see her elevated to the Supreme Court.
“But I don’t think she’s the kind of judge that will really do the kind of work that I think needs to be done by the court and I won’t be supporting her. But I’ll be joining others and understanding the importance of this moment,” Blunt said.
While the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Blunt does not sit on, is expected to vote Monday on Jackson’s confirmation, the full Senate has yet to schedule a vote.
All 11 Democrats on the panel are expected to vote for her, while all 11 of Republicans are expected to oppose her.
So far, only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has come out in support of Jackson.
Collins was one of three GOP senators who voted to confirm Jackson to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals last year, along with Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Graham, a member of the committee, said he would oppose her confirmation, but Murkowski hasn’t publicly said where she stands on the nomination.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also said he is a no vote on Jackson.
With Collins’ backing, Democrats appear to have enough votes to confirm Jackson in the 50-50 divided chamber.
Biden nominated Jackson in February to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who said he would be stepping down from the high court this summer.
Jackson would not alter the court’s 6-3 conservative majority.
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