Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., dove back into the child porn sentencing line of questioning on Wednesday.

Jackson told Hawley, "I am fully aware of the seriousness of this offense and also my obligation to take into account all of the various aspects of the crime, as Congress has required me to do. And I made a determination seriously in each case."

Hawley asked the judge, "Why didn't you apply the enhancements as they were asked for?"

Jackson responded, "Senator, I've answered this question many times from many senators who have asked me, so I'll stand on what I've already said."

Hawley continued to press her, saying, "But your answer is what? Refresh my memory."

Jackson stood her ground, replying, "Senator, I've answered this question. I've explained how the guidelines work and I'll stand on my answer."

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., didn't press Jackson on child porn sentencing. Instead he asked Jackson if she thought law schools were becoming too homogenous -- too "liberal or illiberal" with conservatives voices getting "canceled" -- and asked if it would be better to have a diverse set of voices from "across the political spectrum,” to which Jackson agreed.

Then, he offered her a compliment.

“You're going to be a hero. You are already a hero to lots and lots of kids," he said.

"I suspect you are an advocate for vigorous and robust debate. I don't see how you might be constrained against saying that because of future cases. I’m gonna just assume we are mostly aligned on this," he said.

“I think that is a fair assumption,” she replied.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., raising the fact that Judge Jackson shares a birthday with Judge Constance Baker Motley, the nation’s first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, asked Jackson to tell women and girls watching the hearings why Jackson said in her opening she stands on the shoulders of Motley and so many others.

"I so admired the fact that she was the first," Jackson said. “It's not necessarily easy to be the first, but it is an opportunity to show other people what is possible."

"When you're the first it means no one has ever done it before like you -- and there may be hundreds, thousands of people who might have wanted that opportunity and thought, 'I can't do that because there's no one there like me,'" Jackson continued.

"Being a trailblazer, whether it's Judge Motley or Justice Marshall or Justice O'Connor, being a trailblazer is really inspiring, I think," she added. "And I was always moved by Judge Motley's experience and think it may even be part of why I moved in this direction."

As Republicans continue to question Judge Jackson on her child pornography sentencing, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., put the onus on Congress to update federal sentencing guidelines judges follow for those cases, which were created before the internet was widely accessible.

Appearing to warn Americans watching along at home, Coons characterized the probing as "unfair" and a "misrepresentation" of Jackson’s record.

"I would simply put for those who are watching and trying to understand what all of this is about, that is an attempt to distract from your broad support, your deep record, your outstanding intellectual and legal credentials that we are taking what is a policy dispute that should be decided by members of the Senate," Coons said.

"If we want to change the sentencing guidelines to make them mandatory rather than advisory, if we want to change the structure within which a federal judge imposes sentences, we could do that. But to demand that you be held accountable for this practice that is nationwide and is years old, I view, as an unfair misrepresentation of your record," he added.

President Joe Biden is proud of the "intellect" and "grace" Jackson has displayed during the confirmation hearing, White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

"The president was also impressed with how she dismantled bad faith conspiracy theories that have been fact checked by major media outlets and experts," she said.

When asked about allegations that Jackson is a critical race theory proponent, Jean-Pierre repeated some of Jackson's own defense laid out during the hearing, saying the judge "applies the facts and the law when making decisions on the bench, not academic theory."

-ABC News' Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García