Democrats hope meeting the nominee will persuade some Republicans senators to support her historic nomination to the Supreme Court.
The confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will begin on March 21, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Wednesday, as the Supreme Court nominee began meetings with senators in a quest for bipartisan support from the polarized Senate. The chairman, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, revealed the timetable and joined Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, in urging Republicans to consider voting for Judge Jackson even though nearly all of them voted against her confirmation last year for an appeals court post. “She deserves support from the other side of the aisle,” said Mr. Schumer, who repeatedly called the nominee “amazing” following a private session with her just off the Senate floor. “I am hopeful that a good number of Republicans will vote for her, given who she is.” Judge Jackson,51, has been confirmed by the Senate three times before. The last time was in June, when the 53-to-44 vote confirming her to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit included three Republicans in support. Yet the votes of even those Republicans are not assured this time around. Once routine, strong bipartisan support for a Supreme Court nominee has become a thing of the past. Changing that dynamic will require Judge Jackson, the first Black woman ever nominated to the court, and Democrats to mount a persuasive case that she is highly qualified and merits a court seat even if Republicans see her as too liberal. Believing that the judge is her own best advocate, Mr. Durbin said she would be available to all members of the Judiciary Committee before the coming hearing as well as other lawmakers who want one-one-one meetings. One Republican whom Democrats see as a potential vote for Judge Jackson is Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who voted to confirm her last June.
