This Week: Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
This week, the Senate will begin confirmation hearings for President Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, as well as the first Justice to have been a public defender. Her confirmation hearings are not expected to be contentious, as Democrats have the votes to confirm Judge Jackson, who was recently confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on a bipartisan basis.
The Senate
The Senate will consider the House-passed COMPETES Act, a China competition bill which seeks to increase domestic innovation and provides billions of dollars for semiconductor manufacturing to boost the nation’s self-reliance in emerging technology. The Senate has already passed its bipartisan version of the COMPETES Act, but it will need to reconcile it with the House version which passed mainly along party lines.
The Senate will also host numerous markups and hearings this week:
- The Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will markup S. 3405, the Low Power Protection Act, which will protect low power TV stations from being displaced by full power ones. The Committee will also discuss developing next generation technology for innovation.
- The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will discuss ways to build a resilient economy by shoring up supply.
- The Environment and Public Works Committee will discuss promoting American energy security by facilitating investments and innovation in climate solutions.
- The Foreign Relations Committee will markup S. J. Res. 17, which would require either (1) the advice and consent of the Senate or (2) an act of Congress to suspend, terminate, or withdraw the U.S. from NATO. This resolution would clarify the Senate’s role with respect to the NATO treaty. The importance and strength of NATO has been amplified in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The House
Congressman Don Young (R-AK) passed away on Friday traveling home to Alaska. He was 88 years old and was the most senior member of the House.
The House will not hold any votes this week, but the House GOP will meet in Florida for their annual issues conference.
The Administration
President Biden will travel to Brussels and Poland this week to meet with NATO allies, the G-7, and EU leaders to discuss the humanitarian crises following Russian’s invasion of Ukraine. President Biden last week warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against any attempted effort to aid Russia with economic or military support, and the EU will reinforce that warning. President Biden will also meet this week with the business sector, banks, and energy companies on the impact of Russian sanctions.