It’s worth revisiting the most powerful portion of that opinion, not just for the ideals it defends but for the power of her writing: Jackson, in her ruling, handed down a complete and total smackdown of this frankly absurd legal theory. McGahn argued, as did the White House, that thanks to “absolute immunity” there was no way for Congress to force a member of the executive branch to testify. In April 2019, the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify on his interviews with special counsel Robert Mueller. Maize Hirono, D-Hawaii, gave us a perfect excuse to remember the biggest mic drop moment in Jackson’s career to date. In questioning Jackson about her understanding of precedent, Sen. There is a reason that we have and will hear Judge Jackson tell us over and over and over again what a judge’s role is and why it is relatively narrow.Ĥ3d ago / 10:38 PM UTC Then-White House Counsel Don McGahn looks on during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill on Sept. But in fact, that is exactly what Senate Republicans are trying to get her to do by unsuccessfully attempting to engage her in these inappropriate lines of questioning that ask for her to enter a policy debate, not a legal question. The irony here is that Senate Republicans claim to be concerned that Judge Jackson will step out of her lane and act as a politician, not a judge. As Judge Jackson repeatedly explained, those are policy determinations which are outside of her purview as a judge. This sounds like a legal question, which would be fair to ask of a judicial nominee - except that it is not. Specifically, he asked whether she knew what the average sentences for various offenses are, and then whether she thought those average sentences, without knowing more, are too high or too low.
Cotton questioned Judge Jackson on an array of criminal justice issues. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., entered the race for most disingenuous questioner. As the second day of hearings drew to an end, Sen.