Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

As Republicans attempt to paint Judge Jackson as "soft on crime," Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, pressed Biden's nominee on whether she was too lenient in handing down sentences to child pornography offenders.

Jackson disagreed with that characterization and explained why below-guidelines sentences are so widely used: Federal sentencing laws set by Congress dictate that judges look at its sentencing guidelines and impose a sentence "no greater than necessary."

"As I said before, these are horrible cases that involve terrible crimes and the court is looking at all of the evidence consistent with Congress' factors for sentencing," Jackson said. "The court is told that you look at the guidelines but you also look at the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics of the offender."

"In most cases, if not all of the cases, the government is asking for a sentence below the guidelines because this guidelines system is not doing the work in this particular case," she added.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, the bipartisan body created by Congress to set federal sentencing rules, said in its 2021 report that suggested prison terms for defendants convicted of possessing child pornography -- as opposed to producing the materials -- have "been subject to longstanding criticism from stakeholders and has one of the lowest rates of within-guideline range sentences each year."

To make that point, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., following Lee, gave Jackson the opportunity to say whether it surprised her to hear that Republican judges supported have also given out similar sentences in child pornography cases.

"No, senator, it would not surprise me because these cases are horrific, and there's a lot of disparity because of the way the guidelines are operating in this particular area," Jackson said. "But in every case, in every case that I handled involving these terrible crimes, I looked at the law and the facts. I made sure that the victim -- the children's perspectives -- were represented, and I also imposed prison terms and significant, significant supervision and other restrictions on these defendants."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., kicking off the afternoon session, used his position as chair to defend Judge Jackson against the misleading allegation raised by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that she called former President George Bush and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld "war criminals."

Before the break, Cornyn, at first, complimented her demeanor and then asked "how in the world" she could call Bush and his defense secretary war criminals in legal briefs. Jackson seemed stumped, saying she didn't remember that reference.

After saying he had done "research," Durbin said Cornyn appeared to be referencing Jackson's representation of a Guantanamo Bay detainee as a federal public defender.

"During your service as a public defender, you filed several habeas petitions against the United States naming former President Bush and Rumsfeld in their official capacities," Durbin said. "You were representing people who were wrongly classified as civilians and were combatants of the United States," he added, going on to explain the alien tort statute.

"So, to be clear there was no time where you called President Bush or Secretary Rumsfeld a war criminal," Durbin said.

"Correct, senator," Jackson replied, with a smile.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

ABC News Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer, reporting from inside the hearing room, said the big takeaway so far is that Jackson has stayed "calm, cool and collected." With no major missteps or gaffes, he said, and a slim Democratic majority on her side, she appears on her way to Senate confirmation.

There was some tension in the morning session when Sen. Lindsey Graham asked Jackson a barrage of questions on her faith, to which she declined to go in-depth, saying she's "mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views."

Graham, who let it be known his favored nominee was not selected, went on to say he wasn't trying to attack Jackson but make a point about how "our people" – conservative judicial appointees – have been treated in the past.

In the afternoon session, Republicans are expected to continue pressing Jackson on court precedent, her record as a federal public defender and representation of Guantanamo Bay detainees, and her sentences for child sex offenders, among other issues.

As senators try to probe her judicial philosophy, Jackson told the committee that she has developed a methodology that she uses when approaching any case to ensure impartially and stressed that she views her role as a judge as "limited."

Catch up on key takeaways from Monday's session here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has gone into a break until approximately 1:30 p.m. after a marathon morning of questions from Democrats and Republicans on the committee considering Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

After the break, 15 more senators will have 30 minutes each for one on one questions with Jackson, giving them the chance to probe her judicial philosophy, her record as a public defender and her legal opinions spanning nearly nine years on the bench.

The grilling is unlike any other for federal judges or political nominees in large part because of the nature of the high court and the justices' lifetime tenure.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer