Photo taken on March 2, 2022 shows the U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States. Hearings for U.S. Senate confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court will begin later this month, the Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Hearings for U.S. Senate confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court will begin later this month, the Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday.
The hearings, scheduled to kick off on March 21, will last four days, with statements from committee members, Jackson herself, and people tasked with introducing her, according to Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin.
"I look forward to Judge Jackson's appearance before the Committee and to respectful and dignified hearings," Durbin wrote in a letter to his colleagues in the committee.
Jackson, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, met with top senators from both parties on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced last week that he's nominating Jackson to succeed liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who is about to retire this summer.
"Since she's been nominated, she's received a broad range of support," Biden said of Jackson in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Republicans, however, have signaled their opposition to the nomination by criticizing Jackson's elite educational background and the support she has garnered from progressive and left-wing groups.
It requires a simple majority of votes in the 100-seat Senate to confirm Jackson, 51, to be the next Supreme Court justice and the first African American woman on the bench.
The Senate is evenly split between the two parties. Democrats can approve the nomination without Republican support, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting a tie-breaking vote.
This year, the Supreme Court will rule on cases involving a series of major issues, including abortion, affirmative action, and gun control.
Court watchers have argued Jackson is expected to vote very similarly to Breyer and her ascension won't change the Supreme Court's ideological balance, in which conservatives have a 6-3 majority over liberals. ■