The first black female judge will replace 83-year-old, retiring Judge Stephen Breyer.
Washington:
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he will nominate a black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time in history, filling the vacancy left by outgoing Judge Stephen Breyer.
“I have not made a decision except that (the) person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity,” Biden said in a White House address.
“And that person will be the first black woman ever to be nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
Speaking on stage alongside Breyer, Biden also indicated he would strive for a speedy nomination process and promised to name his candidate by the end of February.
The departure of Breyer, who is 83, will likely give Biden a smooth opportunity to name a replacement for the lifelong Supreme Court seat, while his Democratic Party retains control of the Senate.
The Supreme Court is currently split between six conservatives and three liberals. Biden will now be able to nominate another liberal-minded lawyer to the court, keeping the balance.
Breyer was pressured by liberals to leave in time for Biden to get his candidate through the Senate before the November midterm elections, when Republicans are in a strong position to win majorities in Congress and then control the approval process.
As president, Donald Trump had the rare opportunity to bring no fewer than three new judges to court, fundamentally changing political leanings for years to come.
Biden’s only pick thus far will not come close to that level of impact. However, the Democrat will be pleased with a successful confirmation process, giving his party a much-needed morale boost ahead of the midterm elections.
As an immediate reminder of the tensions that Supreme Court confirmations often cause, Republican senior Senator Mitch McConnell warned Biden “not to outsource this important decision to the radical left.”
“As far as President Biden was given a mandate, it was to rule from the center,” McConnell said.
In his resignation letter, published Thursday, Breyer underlined the coordinated plan to ensure the succession proceeds with minimal upheaval, and confirmed that he will remain on the court for the full current term – but not until his replacement is ready.
“I intend to have this decision come into effect when the court begins this year’s summer recess (usually in late June or early July), assuming my successor has been named and confirmed by then,” he wrote.
– Campaign Promise –
Biden promised to put an African-American woman on trial when he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The vow was part of his vital aid to the black community, which became a crucial part in eventually defeating a crowded field of Democratic rivals and subsequently ousting Trump.
Biden put the first black and Asian woman, Kamala Harris, on the map as his vice president, and has also pushed hard since taking office to place more women and ethnic minorities as senior judges.
Biden said he would ask for Breyer’s replacement to assist, describing her as “an exceptional lawyer” and noting that she was a former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee – an agency he himself led while serving as a senator.
Among the leading candidates to replace Breyer are Ketanji Brown Jackson, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals, and Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had “already begun assessing potential candidates” and that the nomination process “should be done as quickly as possible.”
Of the 115 justices who have served on the Supreme Court, only five were women, including three today: Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. Only two were black men, one of whom is current Judge Clarence Thomas.
Breyer is the senior judge on the court and was nominated in 1994 by then-Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Biden praised Breyer and emphasized his bipartisan spirit, saying he was “patiently seeking agreement” and “was an exemplary official at a time of great division in this country.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
