North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said Wednesday he won’t vote for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson despite admitting she is “well-qualified” for the role.
“There is no doubt that Judge Jackson is well-qualified and her nomination as the first black woman to the Supreme Court is historic. I was impressed with her knowledge, her composure, and her character during more than 20 hours of questioning,” said Tillis, who is one of 11 Republicans on the 22-member Senate Judiciary Committee who interviewed Jackson last week.
Tillis explained two points that brought him to decide against the judge, who was nominated by President Joe Biden last month to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
SUSAN COLLINS TO GIVE SUPREME COURT NOMINEE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON FIRST GOP VOTE
My statement on #SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson: pic.twitter.com/BEDt0Pajll
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) March 30, 2022
“I still hold my initial concerns that she may legislate from the bench instead of consistently following the Constitution as written,” Tillis wrote, indicating his concern that she would be an activist judge.
The North Carolina lawmaker also expressed he was “disappointed” over her reluctance to take a stance against “a liberal, dark money court-packing scheme that represents a fundamental threat to the independence of the federal judiciary, even though other justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer have done so.”
Tillis was among a short list of Republicans who initially appeared open to supporting Jackson following intense rounds of GOP grilling on her record during committee hearings last week.
“I thought you presented yourself well when there was a lot of pressure, and that demonstrates a certain temperament and poise,” Tillis said last week. “I can’t imagine what’s going on inside your head, but at least overtly, you did very well, and you should be proud of that. It’s not an easy thing.”
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Jackson is widely anticipated to be confirmed in the Senate, especially now with the backing of West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, which she announced on Wednesday.
