When does the hearing start and how long does it last?

The confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee begins Monday and will last four days. The first day, which kicks off at 11 a.m., will consist of opening statements from all 22 members of the committee, those who will introduce Jackson and then Jackson herself. The most substantive days will be Tuesday and Wednesday, when members of the committee will ask Jackson about her judicial philosophy, her legal record and anything else they would like to know. The final day — Thursday — will feature testimony from outside witnesses, with the American Bar Association, people who know Jackson personally and others who can speak to her record.

What has she been doing until now?

Jackson — led by former senator Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who has been helping her navigate Capitol Hill — has been getting acquainted with senators in meetings that have ranged from purely social sit-downs to detailed grilling sessions about her record. As of Thursday, Jackson had met with 44 of the Senate’s 100 members, including all 22 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although Jackson is no stranger to the Senate confirmation process — having gone through it three times — she has also spent time preparing for her hearings in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House.

How much time does each senator get for questions?

There are two scheduled rounds for questions. In the first round, each senator will get 30 minutes to ask Jackson questions. Some will indeed ask substantive questions. Others will, if past is prologue, use their question time to make political statements. And still others, particularly Democrats, will use their time to defend Jackson or help with cleanup duty, if it’s warranted. There will also be a second round of questions, with senators getting 20 minutes each. Because of the 50-50 split in the Senate, the committee is also evenly divided, with 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans. It is chaired by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who is the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber. Whether the questions go to a third round will be up to him.

What will senators raise with Jackson during her hearing?

A lot of things. Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have been telegraphing some of the lines of attack against Jackson since earlier this month — that she is soft on crime and that outside groups backing her nomination support Supreme Court expansion, which critics derisively call “court-packing.” Jackson will probably be asked about her representation of Guantánamo Bay detainees as a public defender and in private practice. Several Republicans will want her to detail her judicial philosophy, as well as her time on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which studies and develops sentencing policies for the federal courts. It’s a safe bet that at least one senator will ask whether Jackson supports allowing television cameras in the Supreme Court courtroom.

Who will be the key senators to watch during the hearing?

The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), will set the tone for the GOP as the minority member of the committee to speak and ask questions. But the biggest fireworks are likely to come from the more junior end of the dais, including Republican senators who are known to have presidential ambitions. That list includes Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.).

What will Biden be doing during the hearings?

The former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee will certainly be interested in how his first nominee to the Supreme Court handles the confirmation hearing. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week that she is “certain” the president will watch some parts of Jackson’s hearings — and news coverage of it. The president is scheduled to leave for Europe on Wednesday.

This confirmation fight doesn’t seem as contentious as other recent ones. Why is that?

With Jackson’s nomination, the ideological balance of the nine-member Supreme Court is not at stake. Jackson, if she is confirmed, will succeed retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer — meaning that someone who is perceived to be a reliable liberal vote will replace someone who has been a reliable liberal vote. Because of that, Republicans have not been as eager to try to sink her confirmation as Democrats attempted to do with some of former president Donald Trump’s picks, such as now-Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. Senate Republicans — still a bit incensed after the Kavanaugh battle — have repeatedly insisted they would not engage in character assassination, which they accused Democrats of doing during the Kavanaugh fight. Instead, GOP senators say they will focus squarely on Jackson’s record.

So, what happens after the hearings end Thursday? How quickly will the Senate vote?

Democrats — well aware that at any given time, they are one heartbeat away from losing the Senate majority — want to move to confirm Jackson as fast as possible, which in practical terms means before the two-week Easter recess begins on April 8. Although Durbin has not laid out the committee schedule explicitly, it’s assumed that he will put Jackson’s nomination on the committee’s calendar as early as this Thursday, when the hearing wraps. He has to do that, because Judiciary rules allow for any committee business to be “held over” for one week, which means the actual panel vote on Jackson’s nomination will occur the week of March 28 — probably March 31. This would allow Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to go through the procedural motions that would tee up a final vote the week of April 4. If there is a tie vote in the Judiciary Committee, there would have to be a vote on the Senate floor to discharge Jackson’s nomination from the committee, in addition to the standard cloture vote and the final confirmation vote.

What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing

By Seung Min Kim

March 20, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EDT

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with senators on Capitol Hill on March 8. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court, will face the bright lights and the cameras at her four-day confirmation hearing beginning on Monday. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Jackson’s hearing and the rest of the confirmation process:

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