In the wake of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings to the U.S. Supreme Court, John Heilemann talks with Neal Katyal and Robin Lenhardt, two of the sharpest legal minds of their generation and longtime friends of Jackson. Katyal and Lenhardt – who share a formative bond with Jackson as members of the elite club of former clerks to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer – discuss her biography and character, as well as the role that she could play in being a consensus builder on one of the most conservative Supreme Courts in U.S history. Tune in to the full episode to hear more about Jackson’s historic status as the first Black woman ever chosen to sit on the high court; how the culture-war preening of a handful of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee turned the proceedings into something more venal and ugly than mere Kabuki; and the degree to which the hearings will further undermine public confidence in the court’s distance from petty partisanship and naked ideological warfare.
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Photos: Scenes from Ketanji Brown Jackson's historic confirmation hearings
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, center, accompanied by Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, left, and Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., second from right, arrives for her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson arrives for her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. Jackson, 51, is the first Black woman nominated for the nation’s highest court.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson greets Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, watches, as she arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson greets Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as she arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson greets Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as she arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is at left. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, speaks as Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, listens at left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is seated during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, listens as chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., makes an opening statement during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, Monday, March 21, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., discusses "dark money" while speaking during the nomination hearing of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, Tuesday, March 22, 2022, to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., second from right, and Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, right, talk with Owen Stokes, 6, son of Kennedy's Chief of Staff David Stokes, during a break in a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Jackson on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Judge Jackson's husband Dr. Patrick Jackson, right, looks on. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, writes on a visual aid as he questions Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 22, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks as a visual aid is displayed during Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 22, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., questions Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, left, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, sit next to each other during Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 22, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Johnny and Ellery Brown, parents of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, smile as Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., talks about them during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., questions Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee pauses during Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 22, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
