Sen. Marsha Blackburn signaled her intention to question Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on education and girls sports during the hearing on her nomination to the Supreme Court.
In her opening remarks, the Tennessee Republican said she frequently hears from her constituents on “the issue of parental rights and wanting to be able to rear their children as they see fit.”
“And moms and dads are very concerned about this progressive agenda that is being pushed in some of our public schools,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn brought up efforts to permit or block transgender student-athletes participating in sports on teams opposite their biological sex, how race is addressed in public school curricula, and school mask mandates as a COVID-19 mitigation effort. She questioned whether Jackson has a “hidden agenda” when it comes to what she called the “progressive indoctrination of our children.”
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“Americans need a Supreme Court justice who will protect our children and defend parents’ constitutional right to decide what is best for their own kids,” Blackburn said.
Some of the culture war concerns raised by Blackburn are only tangentially related to cases considered by the high court, which declined to hear an appeal over a case concerning permitting transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity rather than biological sex. But Blackburn framed her concerns as a matter of parental rights.
Blackburn also raised questions about Jackson’s public defense record and allegations from Sen. Josh Hawley that Jackson’s record on child pornography cases in district court was lenient.
“In fact, your philosophy or lack thereof may be the root of the problem here,” Blackburn said.
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The White House has said that Hawley’s claims about Jackson’s record were “cherry-picked,” and the senator said Monday that he will question Jackson on her record but raised the concern ahead of time in order to avoid “playing gotcha.”
Blackburn’s comments were among the most fiery at Monday’s hearing, which largely remained civil as senators and Jackson delivered opening remarks. Jackson will be questioned in subsequent hearings this week.
