On Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee said that he was concerned with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s responses to questions about court packing during her confirmation hearings.
Some on the left have been pushing hard to pack the courts in an effort to bring it in line with their ideology.
Lee made his remarks during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
Mike Lee on Judge Jackson dodging questions on court-packing: 'It leaves a mark'https://t.co/e2xXmXoKkv
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 23, 2022
‘She acknowledges that she has one but won’t share it’
Lee, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who worked as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, told Fox News that Jackson not clearly answering a question during her confirmation hearings “concerns” him because it might reflect her “judicial philosophy.”
During the hearings, Jackson told Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of court packing, “Again, my north star is the consideration of the proper role of a judge in our constitutional scheme. And in my view, judges should not be speaking to political issues and certainly not a nominee for a position on the Supreme Court.”
Jackson defended her stance by noting that recently-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett also declined to answer.
Sen. Lee said, “You know, she gives us her answer, Brian, the fact that she doesn’t want to weigh in on political issues. Interestingly, this is an issue that both affects the court, and it is unique in that while it affects the court, it’s not something the court could ever address.”
“It is what we call a nonjusticiable political question,” Lee continued. “It would be decided by Congress and not by the courts. And it reflects on her judicial philosophy, I think because her answer on that would tell us a little bit about how strongly she feels about the court’s independence.”
“It concerns me that she hasn’t been willing to offer her opinion,” Lee noted. “She acknowledges that she has one but won’t share it.”
The Republican believes Brown Jackson should be open and upfront about her views.
“This is a bonafide hearing — one that is focused on the issues, so she ought to be willing to answer that,” Lee said. “This is a really important issue.”
My thoughts before questioning Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in today’s Judiciary Committee Hearing. Court packing is wrong. pic.twitter.com/l1DoyOi2Kd
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) March 22, 2022
Lee: Court Packing ‘destructive to the very constitutional fabric of our country’
Lee said some of her past associations also concern him regarding court packing.
“Some of the groups that have supported Judge Jackson and some people with whom she has aligned in one way or another have been outspoken advocates in favor of it,” Lee said.
“And yet it’s destructive to the very constitutional fabric of our country,” the senator finished.