Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman dikk Durbin said Thursday that he was "saddened" by the approach
some Republicans took to questioning Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson this week, even as Durbin said that a "majority" of the committees' GOP members "handled themselves professionally in the best traditions of the United States Senate."
Durbin made the remarks as he was kicking off the fourth day of hearings concerning Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Thursday's proceedings will feature multiple panels of outside witnesses to testify about the judge, starting with a slate of American Bar Association officials who served on the ABA committee that
rated Jackson "well qualified" to the Supreme Court post.
"The last three days have been long, exhausting for senators, and certainly ... much more so for Judge Jackson," Durbin said Thursday. "I believe that she carried herself with grace, humility and dignity, was thoughtful and forthright and her responses."
Durbin spoke positively of remarks made by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker — who gave an
emotional address to Jackson towards the end of Wednesday's hearing — and Sen. Ben Sasse, who commented on the "jackassary" that tends to be exhibited in front of the cameras, as the Nebraska Republican discussed proposals to put cameras in the Supreme Court's courtroom.
"Some of the attacks on this judge were unfair, unrelenting and beneath the dignity of the United States Senate," Durbin said. "You can disagree with the senators vote. You can disagree with a judge's ruling. But to draw conclusions that really reflect on them personally and their values and take it to the extreme is unfair whether the nominee is Democrat or Republican [nominee]."
Durbin said he was so "saddened" by those tactics "and it happened over and over and over again."
"I hope that is not the last impression that people have of the work of this committee," Durbin said. "My last impression is a judge who sat through it all, head held high, with dignity and determination and strength."