Sen. Roy Blunt to vote no on Supreme Court nominee

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Sunday became the latest Republican senator to indicate that he would vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson but said he would be “joining others in understanding the importance of this moment.”

“My sense is that the president certainly had every good intention and every, every right in the campaign to talk about putting the first Black woman on the court. I think it’s time for that to happen,” Blunt said while appearing on ABC’s “This Week.”

Blunt said he had had a “great conversation” with Jackson when the two met ahead of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, adding that he believed her to be qualified to serve on the high court. But the senator said it was Jackson’s apparent judicial philosophy that led him to decide against supporting her nomination.

“The judicial philosophy seems to be not the philosophy of looking at what the law says and the Constitution says and applying that, but going through some method that allows you to try to look at the Constitution as a more flexible document and even the law, and there are cases that show that that’s her view,” Blunt said.

The Missouri Republican said he believed that despite opposition from some GOP senators, Jackson is “certainly going to be confirmed.”

“I won’t be supporting her but I’ll be joining others in understanding the importance of this moment,” said Blunt.

Other Republican senators including Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) have also publicly stated that they will not be supporting Jackson’s nomination. However, Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) said last week that she would be voting for Jackson, likely preventing the need for Vice President Harris to break a tie in the Senate.