Biden vow for black woman
President Biden pledged to pick a black woman as his first nominee to the US Supreme Court — and White House discussions are reportedly focused on three, including one he already elevated to an influential appeals court.
US Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger are the early front-runners to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, four sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Jackson, 51, was a Washington, DC, federal judge until Biden tapped her to replace Merrick Garland, now the US attorney general, on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
That court often serves as a steppingstone to the Supreme Court, and Brown’s confirmation in June was widely seen as a sign she’d top Biden’s shortlist for any high-court vacancies.
Jackson was among three judges who ruled this month against former President Donald Trump in his bid to withhold documents from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
She also ruled in 2019 that former White House counsel Don McGahn had to testify at a hearing that led to Trump’s first House impeachment, a decision that was later overturned.
Childs, 55, has been a federal judge in South Carolina since 2010 and in December was nominated by Biden for a seat on the DC Court of Appeals.
Childs reportedly is favored by Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), who endorsed Biden ahead of the crucial South Carolina Democratic primary election, which is widely credited with turning the tide in Biden’s favor and helping him win the nomination.
Kruger, 45, would be the youngest nominee since Justice Clarence Thomas was put forth at age 43 by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.
As top lawyer in the US Solicitor General’s Office, Kruger argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government and as a judge she wrote a precedent-reversing ruling that required a warrant be obtained before cops search a vehicle, according to Bloomberg News.