UPDATE 10:06 AM ET: Biden makes the announcement:
Previous Reporting….
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Biden will nominate DC Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the vacancy created by Justice Stephen Breyer’s announced retirement. Breyer, you will recall, has said he only will step down if and when his successor is nominated and confirmed.
Jackson’s nomination is no surprise, she has been on the short list for a long time, and was recently elevated to the DC Circuit for the obvious purpose of giving her SCOTUS credentials, as we reported almost a year ago, Here Come The Biden Judges, Including His Likely Eventual SCOTUS Nominee:
— Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 50, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Jackson, who is Black, would fill the vacancy created by Judge Merrick Garland’s move to lead the Justice Department. She has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since 2013. President Barack Obama had considered Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016. Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman for the high court if he has the opportunity to do so.
This nomination, if it happens, bucks the demand of Rep. Jim Clyburn, who wanted South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs. Remember, it was Clyburn who extracted Biden’s pledge during the campaign to nominate only a black woman to the next SCOTUS opening, Biden’s Pledge To Appoint Black Woman To SCOTUS Was Quid Pro Quo For James Clyburn’s Endorsement.
Substantial majorities opposed Biden’s pledge only to consider black women, ABC Poll: Only 28% of “Nonwhite Americans” Agree That Biden Should Only Consider A Black Woman For SCOTUS.
Jackson has an “impressive” record of reversals by the appeals court, when she was on the District Court.
Jackson was confirmed to the DC Circuit with only three Republican votes.
If, and that’s a big IF, all Republican opposed her nomination to SCOTUS, that would result in a 50/50 split, and a constitutionally uncertain issue whether VP Kamala Harris could cast a tie-breaker (as she can do for legislation), as we covered in Remember When Liberal Law Profs Said VP Can’t Cast Tiebreaker On Supreme Court Nominations? I Bet Mitch Does.
We will have reactions as they develop.
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