Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, echoing Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also raised a red flag at the support Judge Jackson has gotten from progressive advocacy groups like Demand Justice, saying he is "troubled" that the same group that supports so-called "court-packing" or expanding the Supreme Court.

He said that he's concerned that she hasn't clarified her position on the matter. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has raised a similar objection.

Cornyn also warned Jackson that he, like Graham, intended to drill down on Jackson's role defending Guantanamo Bay detainees both as a federal public defender and in private practice.

"This is not your first rodeo," he said. "You've had an impressive record as a trial court judge and appellate court. I like the fact you have such broad experience in our judicial and legal system but there's still unanswered questions that remain."

"As someone who has deep respect for the adversarial system of justice, I understand the importance of zealous advocacy, but it appears that sometimes this zealous advocacy has gone beyond the pale, and in some instances, it appears that your advocacy has bled over into your decision-making process as a judge," he added.

He immediately noted that Jackson has been overturned in some high-profile cases.

"You've had some cases reversed, like all judges do, but some of them were particularly high profile when you ruled against a Republican administration," he said. "I'm eager to understand why in some instances, you found you could not decide a particular issue while in other instances, you adjoined a Republican administration from implementing its policies."

-ABC News' Trish Turner

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he's in favor of a more diverse court but said he has not yet pledged support for Judge Jackson.

"I think it's good for the court to look like America, so count me in on the idea of making the court more diverse," he said, but adding he has also said, "I want the court to play a particular role in America … make it operate in the confines of the Constitution."

Attempting to get ahead of any political backlash to GOP questioning, Graham said he's interested in Jackson's record as a public defender during Guantanamo Bay proceedings and told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to ask about her record as a federal district judge, calling it "fair game." ABC News reporting found Hawley's claims were misleading.

"The bottom line here is when it is about philosophy when it's somebody of color on our side. It's about we're all racist if we ask hard questions. It's not going to fly with us," Graham said. "We're going to ask you what we think you need to be asked," he added.

The South Carolina senator claimed that progressive groups came to Jackson's aid "at the expense of Judge Childs," whom he pledged to support had Biden nominated her, adding she "would have gotten 60-plus votes." Jackson has said she knew nothing of the endorsement from the progressive advocacy group Demand Justice in a committee questionnaire.

Graham said the hearings will be "challenging" for Jackson, "informative" for the American public, and "respectful" by the committee.

Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, complained that the committee hasn't received all of the records Republicans originally sought from Jackson's time on the sentencing commission but offered a bit of praise.

"We're off to a good start," Grassley said, comparing Jackson's hearings against those for Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

As senators have used Supreme Court confirmation hearings in recent years for political grandstanding, Grassley also reminded the committee of its purpose.

"In any Supreme Court nomination, the most important thing we look for is the nominee's view of the law, judicial philosophy and view on the role of a judge. I'll be looking to see whether Judge Jackson is committed to the Constitution as originally understood," he said.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

After drawing a contrast between America of the past and present, from a nation that once had hundreds of thousands of enslaved people to that of a "more perfect union," Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., defended Jackson against concerns voiced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and some other Republicans that, as a former public defender, she will have "special empathy" as some Democrats touted.

"The cameras and the lights here today can make it easy to forget that at its core the responsibility you seek is one of service -- and I'm fully confident you'll serve Americans from all walks of life, all backgrounds fairly and faithfully," Durbin said. "Now there may be some who claim without a shred of evidence that you'll be a rubber stamp for this president. For those would-be critics, I have four words: Look at the record," he added.

Pointing out that the committee has already scoured her records now on four different occasions and seen "every published and reported word you've written or spoken," Durbin said, "For those who say they need more, I would answer that you've sat down personally with every member of the dais of the committee, Democrats and Republicans."

In what's likely to become a theme for Democrats, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., echoed Durbin's defense.

"Judge Jackson is not anti-law enforcement. She hails from a law enforcement family. She's also won the support of preeminent national law enforcement organizations including the national fraternal order of police," Leahy said. "And no, she's not soft on crime. Her background as a federal public defender would bring an informed perspective of our criminal justice system to the Supreme Court."