Topline
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Friday President Joe Biden will start interviewing potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court “as early as next week” before announcing a decision by the end of the month—here’s where the process stands now.
President Joe Biden speaks while meeting with Vice president Kamala Harris, Senate Judiciary … [+]
Key Facts
Psaki told reporters Friday Biden will start the interviews as soon as next week—though it could be later—and is on track to announce a nominee by the end of the month as he promised, saying the timeline will not be disrupted by the ongoing tensions in Ukraine.
The president has promised his nominee will be the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court.
Biden told NBC News Thursday he’s “taken about four [potential nominees]
and done the deep dive on them,” with multiple reports suggesting U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs are the leading contenders.
The president said Thursday he expects his nominee to get at least some Republican support because he’s “not looking to make an ideological choice here,” and would name someone with an “open mind, who understands the Constitution and interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation.”
Biden and other White House officials have been consulting with both Democrats and Republicans, a group the Washington Post reports so far includes GOP Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), John Cornyn (Texas), Rob Portman (Ohio), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.).
Childs has so far been the most contentious potential pick, with Graham and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) lobbying for her nomination and some progressives already opposed to the more moderate judge—while Politico notes Jackson and Kruger would likely get more Democratic and less Republican support.
What To Watch For
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has pushed for Biden to name a nominee as quickly as possible so the confirmation process can get underway, particularly given Democrats’ fragile Senate majority. Democrats only hold 50 seats and have Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker—and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) is now away from Washington recovering from a stroke, though he’s expected to return in the next few weeks “barring any complications,” CNN reported earlier in February. Though many Republicans have already criticized Biden’s campaign-trail commitment to nominating a Black woman and signaled they’ll oppose her, CNN reports Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP lawmakers aren’t keen to try to block Biden’s pick. “We aren’t going to change the makeup of the court. Why spend a lot of time on that hill?” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told CNN, which also reports some Republicans want to avoid the potentially poor optics of fighting a Black female being named to the court.
Key Background
Biden is now filling his first Supreme Court vacancy, after Justice Stephen Breyer announced he would retire at the end of the current Supreme Court term, assuming his successor has been confirmed. Breyer was under heavy pressure from the left to retire while Democrats control both the White House and Senate, particularly after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declined to retire during Barack Obama’s presidency and was ultimately replaced by the conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Breyer’s successor will not change the ideological makeup of the 6-3 conservative court, but could help ensure the seat remains occupied by a left-leaning justice for decades into the future.
Further Reading
Biden talks Supreme Court timing with Democratic senators (Washington Post)
Biden says he’s done a ‘deep dive’ on 4 Supreme Court candidates (NPR)
Left splits over Supreme Court pick pushed by top Biden ally (Politico)
Top Republicans leery of major Supreme Court fight as some conservatives itch for battle (CNN)
Voters Split On Biden Nominating Black Woman To Supreme Court, Poll Finds — But It Could Help Democrats In The Midterms (Forbes)
White House Says Republicans Have ‘Obliterated Their Own Credibility’ By Attacking Biden’s — Still Unnamed — Supreme Court Nominee (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/02/11/biden-could-interview-supreme-court-nominees-next-week-heres-what-we-know-about-his-decision-so-far/