Sen. Mitch McConnell Says He Will Not Vote for Ketanji Brown Jackson's Nomination to the Supreme Court

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he will be voting against Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court due to her responses to questions about "court packing."

According to NBC News, McConnell said in his speech on the Senate floor that he cannot and will not support "Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court."

McConnell suggested in his remarks that he thought Jackson would be an activist judge and griped about Jackson's refusal to take a position on court packing or adding additional justices to Supreme Court's nine-member.

McConnell said Jackson has refused to reject the fringe position that Democrats should try "to pack the Supreme Court."

The Senate minority leader added that the questions should have been "an easy softball" for her, "but it wasn't." McConnell further indicated that Jackson has too slim of a record from her near-year term on the D.C. Circuit.

During her confirmation hearing, Jackson said Justice Amy Coney Barrett had sidestepped the same question. Barrett is a conservative judge McConnell championed two years ago for the Supreme Court.

Mitch McConnell said the late Justice Ruth Ginsberg and retiring Justice Stephen Breyer had "no problem denouncing" the unpopular view and defending the institution.

Mitch McConnell, Republicans on Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court Nomination

According to The Guardian, Republicans have been trying to cast Ketanji Brown Jackson as being the Supreme Court nominee as part of a strategy of the Democratic party ahead of the midterm elections.

Jackson answered the question by saying that her focus was the consideration of the proper role of a judge in the constitutional scheme.

She added that she believes judges should not be speaking to political issues and certainly not a nominee for a position on the Supreme Court, The Week reported.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely vote on Jackson's Supreme Court nomination on April 4, with the full Senate vote seen to happen in late April.

McConnell continued to accuse Jackson of having what he called "a remarkable lack of candor." He also criticized her for not describing a fully fleshed-out judicial philosophy, according to The Hill.

The Senate minority leader also said the Supreme Court nominee skipped questions on other important constitutional subjects.

He added that if Jackson truly feels that she lacks sufficient experience with constitutional interpretation, "then the Senate certainly should not confirm her."

Ketanji Brown Jackson as Supreme Court Nominee

Ketanji Brown Jackson will replace Stephen Breyer when he retires at the end of the court term in June if she is confirmed.

Jackson's confirmation would be history-making as she would be the first black woman in the court's 233-year existence, according to BBC.

During her confirmation hearing, Texas lawmaker Ted Cruz asked Jackson about her views of critical race theory. Jackson answered that she has never studied critical race theory, adding that she has never used it and that it does not come up in her work as a judge.

Republicans had also scrutinized her times as a public defender, noting that she was "soft on crime." Jackson said that crime and the new for law enforcement "are not abstract concepts or political slogans" for her.

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Sen. Mitch McConnell Will Not Vote to Confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court - From C-SPAN