The Senate Judiciary Committee began on Monday four straight days of confirmation hearings for US President Joe Biden's Supreme Court pick.
Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in February following Justice Stephen Breyer's announcement that he would retire from the top court at the end of its current term. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black female Supreme Court justice.
There have been just two other Black justices in the top court's history, conservative bulwark Clarence Thomas, who has served on the Supreme Court for over three decades, and late Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Chuck Grassley, the Senate panel's ranking Republican, vowed "tough" questioning over the marathon confirmation hearings in order to ascertain her "judicial philosophy."
"We must carefully examine federal judges’ records, especially Supreme Court nominees," he said.
The sentiment was echoed by the committee's Republicans, including Sen. Lindsay Graham, who vowed "challenging" hearings in the days ahead.
Jackson thanked the Senate panel for "this historic chance to join the highest court," and vowed to "ensure liberty and justice for all" if she receives the chamber's confirmation.
"During this hearing, I hope that you will see how much I love our country, and the Constitution, and the rights that make us free," she said in congressional testimony. "I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me."
Jackson is a graduate of Harvard and its law school, and served as a public defender before serving on the US District Court for the District of Columbia from 2013 to 2021. Biden nominated her to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2021, and she received Senate confirmation to sit on that court the same year.
