GOP Senator Graham Says He Won’t Back Jackson for Supreme Court

(Bloomberg) -- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he won't support Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, a decision that won't block her confirmation but underscores how divided judicial nominations have become.

The South Carolina Republican had voted in 2021 to confirm Jackson for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, widely considered the second-highest court in the country. But Graham grilled Jackson about her judicial record during her confirmation hearings before the Judiciary Committee last week.

“My decision is based upon her record of judicial activism, flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases, and a belief that Judge Jackson will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to liberal causes,” Graham said in a statement Thursday.

Graham had lobbied the White House to pick U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs of South Carolina for the court vacancy instead. At last week's hearings, he even asked Jackson to respond to attacks on Childs by liberal groups who argued against a Childs pick because she's represented corporations.

Graham's decision comes one day after Jackson picked up the support of Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, which assured the White House the bipartisan vote it had sought. Collins's support also all but ensured that Vice President Kamala Harris would not be needed to break a tie on the confirmation vote in the 50-50 Senate if all Democrats are present. However, Graham's opposition means the Judiciary Committee likely will be deadlocked, which would force Democrats to take an extra procedural step to bring the nomination before the full Senate.

In the full Senate, Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are seen as other GOP senators as potential votes to support Jackson. Murkowski, who like Collins and Graham backed Jackson's confirmation to the appellate court, has said she'll announce her intentions later this week. Romney said he won't announce until late next week.

Graham had supported President Barack Obama's two Supreme Court picks, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. He also has voted in favor of about two dozen of Biden's district court and appellate court nominees.

But he also worked in lockstep with other Republicans to block Obama's third pick, Merrick Garland, from even getting a nomination hearing by refusing to meet with him. And in 2020, he broke a pledge not to seat a new judge in an election year when as Judiciary chairman he helped to confirm Amy Coney Barrett just days before the 2020 presidential election.