Republicans to question Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s judicial philosophy

Sen. John Barrasso said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s praise of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is giving him reservations about supporting her nomination to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, said Judge Jackson — President Biden’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer — will have a chance to answer questions about her judicial philosophy when the Senate kicks off her confirmation hearings on Monday.

“I am less concerned about her statements than I am about Chuck Schumer’s statements,” Mr. Barrasso said on ABC’s “This Week.” “He said she is going to rule with empathy. A judge ought to be making decisions based on the law as written, not the way they feel about it.”

Judge Jackson is the first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he is open to backing Judge Jackson’s nomination but he was taken aback by her refusal to say whether she opposed court-packing when he met with her in his office.

“I asked her to defend the court,” said Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican. “[Late Justice] Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Justice Breyer both publicly opposed court-packing.”

“That would have been an easy thing for her to do to defend the integrity of the court,” he said. “She wouldn’t do that.”

The calls from the far left to expand the Supreme Court picked up under former President Donald Trump, who was able to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court, giving it a 6-3 conservative majority.

The idea is that Congress could increase the number of justices, allowing Democrats to appoint more liberal justices.

Other Republicans, meanwhile, started outlining their concerns about Judge Jackson’s nomination last week.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and likely 2024 presidential contender, suggested in a series of social media posts that Judge Jackson has a record of being soft on sex offenders.

“Judge Jackson has a pattern of letting child porn offenders off the hook for their appalling crimes, both as a judge and as a policymaker,” the Missouri Republican tweeted Wednesday. “She’s been advocating for it since law school. This goes beyond ‘soft on crime.’ I’m concerned that this a record that endangers our children.”

Mr. Barrasso said Sunday that Republicans will treat Judge Jackson with more respect than Democrats have shown GOP nominees in confirmation hearings.