USA SUPREME
Washington, 24 March (EFE) .- The leader of the Republican minority in the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, said Thursday that he will vote against the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed by the country’s President, Joe Biden, was chosen to fill him a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
“Having studied the nominee’s records and seen her performance this week, I cannot and will not support Justice Jackson for a lifetime Supreme Court nomination,” McConnell said in an intervention on the floor.
Last year, the Republican leader had already spoken out against Jackson, who, if confirmed by the House of Lords, would become the first African-American woman to reach the Supreme Court and hold a position as a judge on a Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia.
McConnell cited several reasons for his current decision, including the judge’s past rulings, his doubts about her legal philosophy, and Jackson’s failure to disclose his opinion on a possible expansion of the Supreme Court, an initiative proposed by Democrats .
The Conservative also warned that the magistrate could engage in what he called “judicial activism”: “It’s a recipe for the courts to err in formulating policy and avoid healthy democratic engagement.”
McConnell added that this represents “a lack of understanding of the separation of powers” and that he will therefore vote against Jackson.
For the past three days, the judge has been under scrutiny by lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where her candidacy must be approved before going to the plenary vote in the House of Lords.
On Tuesday, Jackson had to defend himself against allegations by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who claimed the lawyer had fallen into a “pattern that allowed child pornography defendants to get away with their heinous crimes.”
Hawley’s allegations, presented without evidence, have been criticized by conservative media outlets such as The National Review, and even members of his own party have distanced themselves.
Democrats have the 51 votes needed to approve Jackson’s nomination and want the Senate-wide vote to occur before April 8.
In any case, Jackson’s assumption of office would not change anything in the ideological composition of the US Supreme Court, which, with six conservative-leaning and three progressive judges, is more right-leaning than at any time since the 1930s.