Chuck Grassley: Supreme Court nominee getting ‘a fair hearing’

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday he thought the chief Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee was running a fair hearing on the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wednesday marked the third of four days for the confirmation hearing where senators are questioning Brown Jackson's judicial philosophy and record. After that, the committee will vote on forwarding her nomination to the full Senate, which must confirm her appointment.

The Senate, split 50-50, requires a simple majority to confirm Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the court.

Grassley, the ranking Republican member of the 22-member Senate Judiciary Committee, said on a call with reporters that it was "gratifying" to hear Brown Jackson say she "did not believe there is a living Constitution.

"Instead, the Supreme Court has made clear that when you’re interpreting the Constitution you’re looking at the text at the time of the founding,” she said on Tuesday.

In a previous call, Grassley said he looks for a stricter interpretation of statutes and the Constitution in judges' and justices' philosophies.

"It was gratifying to hear her (Brown Jackson) say that and we'll be able to measure now for the next 30 years whether she carries it out," Grassley said. "She's very graceful, very smart in her answers. If there's anything that I had concern about, it seems to be weak on crime and things of that nature."

Grassley said he would wait until a few days to publicly announce his vote.

Republican senators on the committee on Tuesday and early Wednesday questioned Brown Jackson's record, charging she was too lenient on sentencing as a federal judge.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., contended she gave lesser sentences for defendants convicted of possession of child pornography.

Fact checkers, including from the Associated Press, have found her sentencing is not abnormal compared to other judges across the country. Brown Jackson pushed back against Hawley's assertions, telling about how she would share statements from victims — who've experienced lifelong trauma — with those convicted of possessing child pornography.

In opening remarks on Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chair of the committee criticized Republican senators for what the hearing at times "turned out to be a testing ground for conspiracy theories and culture war theories."

Republican senators, in turn, criticized Durbin for "editorializing" questions and comments made by Republicans.

On the call with reporters, Grassley said he believed Durbin was "running a fair hearing."

Grassley, who has been in the U.S. Senate since 1981 and chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2015-19, said the hearing was more calm than in previous years, recalling the contentious fight over now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

"It's a lot more decorum this time. That's the way it should be," Grassley said. "And maybe one last thing on Durbin, we've seen a deep dive into the record, but it's been very much less personal."

Brown Jackson, nominated by President Joe Biden, would replace liberal Justice Stephen Brayer on the court and is not expected to change the ideological balance of the nation's highest court.