The nomination hearings for President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson began Monday, with Republicans vowing to question much of Brown’s legal record in a fair and respectful manner. Jackson was nominated to replace outgoing Justice Stephen Breyer who announced his retirement late last year.

• Republican’s focus will primarily be on Brown’s record on criminal sentencing, her thoughts on packing the supreme court and her personal background. Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) -who is viewed as prospective Republican president nominee- has already mounted his attacks on Brown, claiming she has been light on child porn defendants in the past. Sen. Blackburn (TN) echoed these sentiments in her opening remarks Monday, saying ““On average, you sentence child-porn defendants to over five years below the minimum sentence recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines. And you have stated publicly that it is a ‘mistake’ to ‘assume that child pornography offenders are pedophiles.’ Your philosophy, it appears, is backward on these issues. Restrictions for children and families and freedom for criminals,”

• GOP support for Brown comes from Senators Susan Collins (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC) and Lisa Murkowski (AK), who are expected to join democrats in supporting Brown’s nomination.

• State-of-play: with the support of three Senate republicans and the entirety of the democratic caucus, Brown is expected to be confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice barring any major hiccups or revelations in her confirmation hearings.

• What Sen. McConnell is saying: “Any nominee to the highest bench ought to welcome tough scrutiny, tough questions and a rigorous review of their record … The country deserves nothing less and this is what Senate Republicans will provide.”

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