GOP warns that Democrats are rushing Supreme Court confirmation process

The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says Democrats are trying to rush the Supreme Court confirmation process, interfering with the senators’ “advise and consent” authority to vet President Biden’s nominee to the high court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Democrats are trying to achieve an “artificial timeline” after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, announced they’re aiming to confirm the nominee before leaving for Easter recess, which begins April 8.

Mr. Grassley said the schedule was announced even before the committee sought records from the nominee to review before her confirmation hearings.
 
“Vetting a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the high court is serious business. The American people rightly expect a full and thorough vetting process. We should not sacrifice the integrity of our constitutional advice and consent responsibility to meet an arbitrary timeline. The Court’s next term doesn’t begin until October, so there’s absolutely no need to rush,” Mr. Grassley said in a statement.

Judge Jackson has been tapped to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is expected to remain on the high court through this term, which concludes at the end of June.

Democrats plan to hold Judge Jackson’s confirmation hearing during the week of March 21 and aim to confirm her before Easter next month. 

That would be about 43 days from nomination to confirmation.

Mr. Grassley said the Judiciary Committee’s vetting process has taken an average of 53 days.

He said Judge Jackson’s tenure on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and as a federal public defender, where she defended a Guantanamo Bay detainee, require scrutiny from the committee.

“Announcing a hearing date before even seeking these records in order to meet an historic timeline risks casting doubt on the thoroughness of the vetting process,” the senator’s press release read.

Mr. Grassley chaired the Judiciary Committee when Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh was nominated by former President Donald Trump and announced confirmation hearing dates a month after the formal nomination was made and key records were requested for senators’ review.

But a swift confirmation schedule is not unprecedented: Republicans last year rushed through Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation ahead of the November 2020 election in just 33 days from nomination to confirmation. Mr. Trump nominated her on Sept. 26, 2020, and the Senate held a confirmation vote for her on Oct. 27, 2020. 

Democrats argue there shouldn’t be one set of rules for Republican nominees and another set for Democrats.

“Republicans waited just 16 days from when President Trump announced then-Judge Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court before proceeding with a hearing. With a March 21 start to the hearing, there will be 24 days from the announcement of Judge Jackson’s nomination to her hearing,” said Emily Hampsten, a spokesperson for Mr. Durbin.

“What’s more, then-Judge Barrett had three years’ worth of new materials to disclose when her Supreme Court confirmation hearing began. Compare that to Judge Jackson, who was before the Committee just one year ago. Chair Durbin has said from the outset that the process will be ‘fair and timely’ and this timeline is precisely that,” Ms. Hampsten added.