The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination today with a vote of 11-11, The Hill reports. Under Senate rules, the full chamber now must vote to formally discharge the nomination from the committee, which was expected to happen this evening. So long as the motion to discharge passes, the Senate plans to begin debate on the nomination tomorrow. Three Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have said they will support Jackson.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is teaming up with Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ, to co-sponsor legislation that would place limitations on how the NCAA handles its investigations, the Nashville Post reports. “The NCAA has a well-established history of backroom deliberations that produce unfair punishments for athletes, coaches and universities,” said Blackburn. “With the emergence of new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules, it is more important than ever to address the systematic failures that have eroded league fairness.” Blackburn and Booker say their bill would tackle four new parameters for NCAA investigations: establishing due process; promoting fairness, consistency and accountability; enabling enforcement from the Department of Justice; and evaluating legal standing of any ongoing investigation.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday announced it will meet April 4 for a vote on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said the panel will reconvene at 10 a.m. EDT for a vote that would advance Jackson’s nomination to the full floor. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has said he hopes to hold a final confirmation vote before the Senate’s expected Easter recess, which begins on April 8. Yahoo News has the story.

The Tennessee General Assembly agreed Monday to ban newcomers from running for U.S. House and Senate seats and make the ban effective for the next election, the Nashville Post reports. The Tennessee House had preferred delaying the effective date until after this year’s election but the Senate argued it should go into effect immediately. Following negotiations, the House adopted the Senate language. If signed by Gov. Bill Lee, the measure could keep Trump-backed candidate Morgan Ortagus and music video producer Robby Starbuck from running in the state’s newly redrawn 5th Congressional District. Some have questioned the constitutionality of the measure since the U.S. Constitution specifically lays out requirements for congressional candidates, which do not include residency rules other than the candidate live in the state. In related news, Punchbowl News reported today that the Tennessee Conservative PAC is planning to fund a lawsuit to overturn the bill.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held the third day of hearings and a second day of questioning today for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Questions from Republican senators continued to center on the judge’s track record on sentencing, especially in child pornography cases. Jackson pushed back on the questions saying, “no one case can stand in for my entire record.” When asked if she regretted some of the sentences, which fell below the sentencing guidelines, she said, “What I regret is that in a hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences.” Republicans on the committee also asked today to get copies of pre-sentencing reports related to the cases in question. Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said that move would be unprecedented and could negatively impact victims. The Hill has a wrap up of the day. Tomorrow, the committee will hear from a number of outside groups, including the ABA.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday defended her record as a federal judge during the second day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Associated Press reports. Jackson strongly pushed back against suggestions that she was too lenient on child pornographers. In response to accusations that her rulings have endangered children, Jackson said, “nothing could be further from the truth.” Tuesday’s hearing was the first of two days of questioning after Jackson and the 22 members of the panel gave opening statements on Monday. On Thursday, the committee will hear from legal experts before an eventual vote to move her nomination to the Senate floor. Watch a live stream on the committee’s website.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today to introduce herself and make an opening statement. She told senators that she sees Breyer as a judicial model and would “hope to carry on his spirit,” The Hill reports. Jackson once clerked for Breyer and if confirmed, would replace him when he retires this summer. Members of the committee also made opening statements but asked no questions. Questioning will begin tomorrow at 9 a.m. EDT. Watch the proceedings on the committee’s website. Photo: Associated Press

U.S. President Joe Biden today delivered remarks on the Violence Against Women Act as an alarming spike in domestic violence has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reports. Biden signed legislation into law yesterday to extend and expand the provisions of the act. The new law expands protections for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, broadens access to legal services for survivors, and provides more resources and training programs for law enforcement. The new law also will do more for survivors in rural areas and underserved communities, the president said. Get full details here. The Violence Against Women Act was first written by Biden in 1994 when he was a U.S. senator. It expired under then-President Donald Trump in 2019.

Congress has approved a $1.5 trillion spending plan that includes a 6.1% boost in funding for federal judiciary security, Reuters reports. A total of $704.8 million was allotted for court security. Included in the funding is money for the creation of a program aimed at identifying and pursuing the voluntary removal of judges' personal information from the internet. The judiciary is also seeking approval of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, which would allow federal judges to redact personal information on government websites and bar people and businesses from publishing such information online if written requests are made not to do so. The measure is named after the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, who was murdered in an attack at the New Jersey judge’s home in 2020 by a disgruntled lawyer.  

The $1.5 trillion spending bill approved by Congress this week includes $85.5 million for a new federal courthouse in Chattanooga. The money comes on top of an initial $94.5 million approved in 2021, Chattanoogan.com reports. But the funding falls short of the $94.6 million that government officials say is necessary to complete the project. The new courthouse is projected to be 186,000 square feet. The federal General Services Administration began looking for a new site between two to five acres in January. It also will have to determine the best use and reuse opportunities for the current courthouse. Known as the Joel Solomon Building, it was the final work of famed Chattanooga architect R.H. Hunt when it was built in the 1930s.