U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley explains his vote not to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Wednesday explained to about 40 people at a Burlington town hall why he voted against confirming Judge Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Grassley said his "no" vote was related to Jackson's rulings on the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, a bipartisan criminal justice bill signed into law in 2018.

Grassley said he felt Jackson's opinions did not reflect what was intended by the Constitution.

“We ought to have people have people on the Supreme Court that will stick to the original intent of the Constitution as it was written by the Constitution writers or as it was amended later on,” Grassley said.

Jackson will bethe first Black woman and the first former public defender on the high court. Previously, she served as a clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer, whom she replaced.

According to Grassley, the FIRST STEP Act allowed judges to reconsider certain sentences they had already handed down. Congress would not be responsible for the reduction in sentencing but would give judges the ability to be lenient based on the facts of a case.

The law, Grassley said, was never intended to apply to those who had already been sentenced before the law was enacted. Jackson used the law to reconsider the sentence of Keith Young, who had been convicted of dealing heroin. Young had been sentenced to prison in July 2018, a few months before the law was passed.

Young had initially asked for compassionate relief due to COVID-19. Instead, Jackson cut his 20-year sentence in half based on her reading of the FIRST STEP act.

Grassley said he is working to make some provisions of the law retroactive, but thinks the question of whether part or all of the bill should apply retroactively should be left to Congress to decide, not judges.

Grassley said he was also disturbed by the 11 cases of Jackson sentencing those found in possession of child pornography. Republicans have said Jackson sentenced the convicted people to much less than what is required by law, in one instance sentencing an 18-year-old to three months in prison followed by six years of supervision.

During her confirmation hearing, Jackson said her sentences fell in line with the sentence structure agreed upon by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. According to a paper laying out sentencing guidelines dated January 2019, those who possess child porn do not have a mandatory minimum if it is their first sex-related offense. She also had told the committee that prosecutors asked for less than the supposed minimum.

Grassley: Putin's war not justified, CDC recommendations not enforceable

When questioned by audience members about statements that have been labeled pro-Russia propaganda, Grassley replied that it is clear what was going on.

“It seems to me that Putin is trying to make a case for a war that is not justified,” Grassley told members of the media after the event.

Grassley also said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to wear masks and take the COVID-19 vaccine are unenforceable until an entity makes them law. He also told attendees he voted against the CDC five times as a way to condemn their recommendations.

Another way Grassley said the Republicans have fought against the CDC has been by making it difficult for the CDC to obtain money for COVID-19-related efforts. An example of this is passing bills that do increase government funding but do not allow government dollars to be spent on COVID-19-related programs.

If Republicans are elected to the majority of the House or Senate, Grassley said he believes Congress would conduct investigations into the National Institute of Health, the CDC and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci. The House and Senate have been controlled by Democrats since 2020.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: At Burlington event, Chuck Grassley explains vote on Judge Jackson