After Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced she’ll be a yes vote on Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, her opponent Kelly Tshibaka said Murkowski is once again catering to the radical left.
“The long guessing game is over, and the unsurprising answer is that Lisa Murkowski is supporting a leftist judicial nominee who will write legislation from the bench and have the very real potential for harming Alaska for decades to come. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will have Murkowski’s vote, which is far more than solid conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh ever got. In fact, Murkowski’s vote to discharge the Judiciary Committee and put Judge Jackson’s nomination before the full Senate is more respect than she gave Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose very nomination she opposed in the first place.”
“Add this to the growing list of votes that fly in the face of the views of most Alaskans. There can be no question that with every failure of the Biden administration, Murkowski takes greater ownership of it. She has voted to confirm over 90 percent of his cabinet nominees, and now she has given her support to a judge who has been lenient on child sex abusers, cannot define what a woman is, and does not acknowledge the natural rights of people as delineated in the Declaration of Independence. With Justice Jackson on the Supreme Court, will there be any justice for women or children?” Tshibaka said, adding that when she’s senator, she’ll only support strong, constitutionally minded nominees for the court.
Jackson famously answered a question during her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that has been mocked ever since.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked Jackson: “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?”
Jackson fumbled for an answer and said, “I’m not a biologist.”
Blackburn then poked at that answer, saying, “the fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-11. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would vote against the nomination of Jackson. Last week, he said, “I think all indications are that Judge Jackson is going to be a liberal activist from the bench. But the good news for people like me, is the Court is still 6-3.”
In a procedural vote Monday, every Democrat and three Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Murkowski – voted to advance her nomination.
