WASHINGTON — On Friday, President Joe Biden announced that he is nominating federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. She is expected to replace retiring justice Stephen Breyer.
Jackson's nomination fulfills a campaign pledge from the president to nominate the first Black woman to the high court.
Shortly after President Biden's pick was reported, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) released the following statement on Jackson's nomination:
"I’m looking forward to meeting with Judge Jackson and conducting a thorough review of her background and record in the coming weeks.
"The Senate will perform its constitutional duty of providing advice and consent as it has always done for nominees to our nation’s highest court. Ultimately I will be looking to see whether Judge Jackson will uphold the rule of law and call balls and strikes, or if she will legislate from the bench in pursuit of a specific agenda.
"No matter what, Judge Jackson will be given the dignity and respect she deserves. The American people will see a starkly different process from the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh and other judicial nominees during the previous Administration."
Then, on Friday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released his own statement regarding the latest nomination:
“I congratulate Judge Jackson on the honor of being nominated to the Supreme Court, and I look forward to sitting down with her as I study her record and judicial philosophy.
“While I have concerns about how President Biden is handling this nomination process, I look forward to evaluating Judge Jackson on her record, views, and judicial philosophy alone. Sadly, Senate Democrats have undermined the American people’s confidence in previous judicial confirmation processes with vicious personal smears and unfounded accusations. These kinds of shameless attacks demeaned the Senate and made a mockery of our constitutional role in providing advice and consent to the president on nominations. I believe Judge Jackson should be treated with the dignity and decorum that has been lacking from the consideration of past nominations.
“The people of Texas deserve a rigorous investigation of Judge Jackson’s nomination. This is especially key in a time when too many parts of our executive and judicial branches are at risk of politicization, and when Americans face crises directly related to our legal system with unenforced federal laws at our border and in prosecutors’ offices across the country.
“While I previously voted against confirming Judge Jackson to her current position on the D.C. Circuit, I will engage in careful consideration of her nomination. I will closely scrutinize her record, as I firmly believe that justices must hold fidelity to the Constitution and the proper role of a judge — that of an impartial jurist, not a robed partisan.”
According to a report from The Texas Tribune, both Cornyn and Cruz voted against confirming Jackson when she was before the Senate last year for an appointment to a lower court.
Both senators sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will take the lead vetting Jackson's nomination in Congress, according to the Tribune. Committee members will meet with Jackson individually before holding hearings and a vote to advance the nomination to the full Senate.
According to the Tribune, Cruz has previously called President Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman “offensive” and insulting. Cornyn has previously said that he wished the president expanded his candidate pool beyond Black women to also consider factors like background and diversity of experience.
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