Judge Ketanji Jackson was endorsed by 59 former Justice Department officials including Loretta Lynch, former Attorney General, and Sally Yates who served as acting Attorney General.
Signers urged President Joe Biden to confirm his nominee in a letter to the Senate leaders.
The letter dated March 9, and sent to Senator Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), represents a growing group of officials, mainly from past Democratic administrations that support the Biden nominee.
According to officials, Jackson has “extraordinary” academic credentials as well as a deep understanding of the law. They claim Jackson would emulate Justice Stephen Breyer’s “principled pragmatics”, whom she was chosen to replace.
Jackson is making the rounds on Capitol Hill, speaking with senators, and this letter comes as she has just received it. This week she met with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), two centrists who are pivotal in her nomination vote.
Manchin stated that Jackson is a highly accomplished person. He said this Thursday after meeting with Jackson for over an hour.
“She has had more than 500 opinions. We looked at all of them and a wide variety of other things. The thing I found most impressive was that she didn’t try to interpret the laws we make. He said that it was very important.
Collins said that Manchin and Collins met on Tuesday.
It is clear that her credentials as well as the breadth and depth of her experience are remarkable. She was a law clerk, public defender, private attorney, member of the Sentencing Commission and a district court judge for over eight years. She said that she was now a circuit judge. “I will, of necessity, wait for the hearings before making a decision. But I found today’s session very helpful.”
Jackson’s hearings will begin on March 21. To be confirmed, she needs to have the support of at least 50 senators. The Senate is controlled by Democrats with a 50-50 margin.
