On Wednesday morning, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, began the formal process of meeting with the senators who will confirm her. Her first meeting was with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, followed by a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Before the meeting, I said Judge Jackson is brilliant and beloved. But now that I’ve met her, I will add another word: belongs,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. ”She is not only brilliant and beloved, but belongs on the Supreme Court. I believe her nomination certainly merits a good number of votes from both parties, and I hope we see that as we move forward in the process.”
McConnell’s response when asked about his meeting with the nominee? “Good meeting.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced the schedule for Jackson’s confirmation hearings in a letter to Senate colleagues on Wednesday. They will begin on March 21, with statements from committee members and Jackson. On March 22 and 23, the committee will question Jackson. They will also meet in closed session on March 23 to hear the results of the FBI’s background investigation—standard operating procedure in a Supreme Court nomination, unless that nominee is Brett Kavanaugh and the FBI didn’t really bother. On March 24, the committee will hear testimony from the American Bar Association and outside witnesses.
"This one has special historic significance," Durbin said of the nomination. He also met with Jackson on Wednesday. "In the United States’ history, our Supreme Court has had 115 Justices, 108 of those Justices have had one thing in common—they were all white men. Five of those who served on the court as justices were women. Only three have been people of color out of 115."
"Once the Judiciary Committee completes its consideration of Judge Jackson, I will move to have her nomination come immediately to the floor of the Senate, so the Senate wastes no time fulfilling its constitutional duty," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "We are going to have a fair but expeditious process, where members from both sides will get to ask their questions and explore the judge’s record."
Jackson’s final meeting of the day was with ranking Judiciary member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). “I just think that we're gonna meet our constitutional responsibility of advise and consent with dignity and fairness and most importantly thoroughness,” he told reporters during the photo op portion of their meeting.