President Joe Biden will meet with a pair of senators who are influential in the nomination process to begin the search for the next Supreme Court justice.
Biden, a former Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, will meet with current chairman Dick Durbin and ranking Republican Chuck Grassley on Tuesday to hear their advice about the vacancy, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing. Durbin is an Illinois Democrat and Grassley is an Iowa Republican.
CLYBURN-BACKED MICHELLE CHILDS CONSIDERED FOR SUPREME COURT, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
“[Biden] will do his duty to select a justice not only with the Senate’s consent but with its advice,” Psaki said. “He is steeped in this process and looks forward to advice from embers of both parties on the Hill, as well as top legal experts and scholars across the country, working with the vice president and his team at the White House. I think you’ll see those consultations start this week.”
The name with the most buzz so far is South Carolina federal judge J. Michelle Childs, who has been praised by Democratic House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and by both of the state’s Republican senators.
Clyburn, who endorsed Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in February 2020 after he pledged to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, told Axios the White House has been aware of his support of Childs for months.
While Biden’s officials have not named any other contenders, outlets have floated the possibility of U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, who was on former President Barack Obama’s short list in 2016. California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45, has also been touted by legal experts as a possible selection.
“The president’s objective and his intention is to choose from among a group of black women with impeccable records and impeccable credentials, and he expects the Senate, Democrats, and Republicans to consider the qualifications of these nominees and do that as it has been done historically,” Psaki said.
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Biden has pledged to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court before the end of February.
