President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, refused Tuesday to disavow Democrats' attempts to pack the Supreme Court with left-wing justices.
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) noted during Jackson's nomination hearing that two of the Court's liberal members, Justice Stephen Breyer and the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, publicly expressed opposition to court packing. If confirmed, Jackson will replace Breyer.
Grassley then asked Jackson, "Do you agree with Justice Breyer and Justice Ginsburg that court packing is a bad idea?"
Jackson has said that court packing is a political question for Congress to decide, but Grassley argued the question is fair because "sitting Supreme Court justices have spoken on that matter."
Jackson responded by saying again that court packing is a political question.
Grassley also asked Jackson for her views on so-called dark money. "One member of this committee suggested that the Supreme Court has been bought by dark money groups," Grassley said, referring to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's (D., R.I.) opening statement. "Do you agree that the Supreme Court has been bought by dark money groups?"
Jackson refused to go along with Whitehouse's position. "Senator, I don't have any reason to believe that that's the case," Jackson said.
While left-wing politicians and media sources have promoted court packing to erode conservative Supreme Court victories, Americans widely oppose it. A commission set up by Biden to consider the issue ultimately refused to endorse court packing or term limits for justices.