From left: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra R. Kruger, J. Michelle Childs.Photo: Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images; Jeff Chiu/AP/Shutterstock; Meg Kinnard/AP/Shutterstock
Joe Bidenhas seemingly narrowed his search for the next Supreme Court nominee to even fewer names.
Outlets includingCBS News,NBC NewsandTheNew York Timesreported this week that thepresident recently interviewedJudges J. Michelle Childs, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Leondra R. Kruger. (At least one of those meetings, according to theTimes, was conducted in person.)
A White House spokesman told PEOPLE he could not comment on any interviews.
President Biden, 79, campaigned on a promise to nominate a Black woman as a Supreme Court justice. With the announcement of toJustice Stephen Breyer’s retirement, he now has his chance.
A source earlier told PEOPLE that Childs, Jackson and Kruger were among those on the administration’s short list, standing out for their history of bipartisan support, legal and academic accolades, work in public service and their life stories.
Earlier this month, Biden told Lester Holt during anNBC News interviewthat he was already homing in on top contenders in his search.
“I’ve taken about four people and done a deep dive on them,” Biden said then, adding that the process included “thorough background checks” to “see if there’s anything in the background that would make them not qualified.”
The women on his shortlist, he added, “are nominees who are incredibly well qualified and documented. They are the honor students that come from the best universities they have experience, some on the bench, some in the practice of law.”
President Joe Biden.Anna Moneymaker/Getty
The Harvard College and Harvard Law School grad also previously clerked for outgoing Justice Breyer, who has called her “brilliant,” and praised her “common sense” and “thoughtfulness,“according to SCOTUS Blog.
She graduated with honors from Harvard University and served as a reporter for theHarvard Crimson. She later attended Yale Law School and was the first Black woman to serve as editor in chief of theYale Law Journal.
The U.S. Supreme Court.Alex Wong/Getty
Unlike many others being considered for the nation’s highest court, Childs attended public universities on scholarships, spending her undergraduate years at University of South Florida and earning law and business degrees at the University of South Carolina.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who sits on the Judiciary Committee and also hails from South Carolina, hasexpressed his support for Childs, calling her “an awesome person.”
Once Biden’s choice is made, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings, subjecting the nominee to what is typically intense questioning before the full Senate votes to confirm or reject Biden’s selection for the nation’s highest court.
Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the Senate, have said they will move swiftly to confirm Biden’s pick — with the midterm elections looming in November.
source: people.com
