U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is optimistic that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court, despite the combative nature of questioning by some Republicans during her historic confirmation hearings.
“She’s been a pillar of strength,” Klobuchar told ESSENCE in an interview outside the hearing room on Wednesday. “She has shown grace under pressure every step of the way [despite] being asked the most mean-spirited questions.”
Yet and still, the Minnesotan Senator, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is confident that Jackson will ultimately be confirmed. “Every single one of her [prior] confirmations has been bipartisan,” she said. “And her credentials are impeccable. And we know what hard work and effort it took for her to get here.”
Klobuchar, a former prosecutor and the first woman elected to represent Minnesota in the Senate, is thrilled to see that women and girls across the country have been inspired by the Harvard-educated nominee.
Among them is Maddi Morgan, 11, whom the Senator invited as her special guest to the hearings. Morgan, a sixth grader from Washington D.C., wrote a letter last month to President Joe Biden asking to be considered as a nominee for the Supreme Court. Klobuchar happened to meet the youngster and her father during a recent walk around Capitol Hill.
In her letter to President Biden, Morgan wrote: “I would like to be a part of the Supreme Court…children don’t have a voice in this country and even if I could give them a small one and for them to be represented, that will do.”
“Now of course, I will respect your decision either way…but I will ask you to seriously consider this,” she continued. “I live a few blocks away from the Supreme Court so it will be easy to get there.”
The Senator was impressed. “As her letter to President Biden shows, Maddi is clearly a talented and persuasive young woman with a bright future ahead of her,” said Klobuchar. “I look forward to the day when Maddi will be appearing at her own Supreme Court nomination hearing.”
Morgan was grateful. “Thank you, Senator Klobuchar, for inviting me. I’ll remember this 50 years from now.”