Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out the GOP’s line of attack against Judge Jackson’s record on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, outlining what he called "red flags" that detract from her historic nomination.

Painting her as a judge with limited experience on the bench, McConnell said Republicans know very little about her judicial philosophy and emphasized that she has issued just two written opinions on the appeals court -- both released after the opening on the high court became public. Notably, Jackson authored nearly 600 opinions during her eight years as a trial court judge.

"There is no meaningful sample size of appellate opinions or senators to consult," McConnell said. "The country needs a respectful, dignified, but vigorous, exhaustive hearing."

McConnell conceded that Jackson is "likable," but stressed that he voted against her for her current post, adding that she hasn’t resolved his concerns about whether she'll follow the law as written.

"I want to hear whether the judge actually agrees that the job the judge is to follow the law as it is read a simple straightforward proposition," he said. "The judge’s job is to bring neutrality, not an agenda."

For her part, Jackson said in her opening statement that she decides cases "from a neutral posture... without fear of favor."

-ABC News' John Parkinson

After nearly four and a half hours of opening statements on Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene Tuesday at 9 a.m. when Judge Jackson will begin two days of intense questioning from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats.

Members will speak in order of seniority, with 30 minutes each for questions Tuesday and 20 minutes Wednesday.

Democrats are expected to continue their defense of Jackson against GOP attacks on her record as a federal public defender and in response to allegations she's "soft on crime." The Biden White House is aiming for at least a few Republicans to vote to confirm the president's nominee.

With members of the public invited into the hearing room for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered doors, public seats were nearly full for Jackson’s opening statement, with numerous African American women in the room.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

Noting she has almost a decade of experience on the bench, Jackson said she approaches the law with a "careful adherence to precedent" and joked that her opinions "tend to be on the long side...because I also believe in transparency -- that people should know precisely what I think and the basis for my decision."

"I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor," she said. "I know that my role as a judge is a limited one. But the Constitution empowers me only to decide cases that are properly presented."

Jackson continued, "All of my professional experiences, including my work as a public defender and a trial judge have instilled in me the importance of having each litigant know that the judge in the case has heard them, whether or not their arguments prevail in court."

Wrapping up her opening statement and the first time she’s spoken formally before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jackson acknowledged those who came before her.

"I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me, including Judge Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday," Jackson said. "And like Judge Motley, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building 'equal justice under law' are a reality and not just an idea."

"Thank you for this historic chance to join the highest court to work with brilliant colleagues to inspire future generations -- and to ensure liberty and justice for all," she said in closing.

Jackson will face marathon questioning round from senators on Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the American Bar Association and outside witnesses speaking to her qualifications on Thursday.

Jackson in her opening remarks honored Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who she clerked for and whose seat she would fill if confirmed.

She said, "I know that I could never fill his shoes. But if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit."

She quoted something Breyer said on the day of his own nomination to the Supreme Court: "What is law supposed to do, seen as a whole? It is supposed to allow all people -- all people -- to live together in a society, where they have so many different views, so many different needs, to live together in a way that is more harmonious, that is better, so that they can work productively together.”

Jackson vowed, "If I am confirmed, I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and the grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years."