On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden committed to nominating a Black woman to any Supreme Court vacancy that might arise during his term in office. After Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement on Thursday, Biden reiterated his intention.听
鈥淭he person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 long overdue in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment.鈥�
Many are speculating that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is the frontrunner on Biden鈥檚 short list.听
鈥淜etanji Brown Jackson has gotten stellar comments from many observers in the time since Breyer announced his retirement. She was recently confirmed by the Senate to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., Circuit, which is recognized as a pathway to the Supreme Court,鈥� said , Notre Dame Presidential Faculty Fellow and professor in the Department of Africana 91视频 and the Department of Political Science.听
At only 51 years old, Brown Jackson could potentially serve on the court for decades, noted , the David A. Potenziani Memorial College Professor of Constitutional 91视频, professor of political science, concurrent professor of law and director of the .听
鈥淭he D.C. Circuit is often a proving ground for Supreme Court nominees, and her confirmation would allow Biden to make another appointment to that powerful court,鈥� Hall said. 鈥淯nfortunately, her nomination to the Court of Appeals was so recent that we do not have good data on her ideology, but it鈥檚 likely that she would reinforce the court鈥檚 liberal wing.鈥�
However, Brown isn鈥檛 the only candidate with outstanding credentials, added Pinderhughes, who also holds a concurrent faculty appointment in American studies and is a faculty fellow at the . South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn is a strong supporter of Michelle Childs, a federal judge who is currently a candidate for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Childs is only slightly older than Brown Jackson, so she too has the potential to serve on the court for many years.
鈥淚t was Clyburn who lobbied Biden during the presidential debate to commit to nominating an African American woman for the Supreme Court, the move that mobilized decisive African American support for Biden in the primaries,鈥� Pinderhughes said. 鈥淐lyburn proposed Childs to Biden shortly after his inauguration, arguing that justices with greater diversity should be considered for the court. In this case, Clyburn is seeking to checkmate the candidacy of Brown Jackson, who attended both Harvard College and Harvard Law 91视频.鈥�
In another era, one might expect a president with struggling approval numbers facing an evenly divided Senate to select a very moderate nominee, but none of the incentives to do so are currently in place.
鈥淭he Republicans eliminated the use of the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations during President Trump鈥檚 term (after the Democrats had removed it for lower-court nominations under President Obama),鈥� Hall said. 鈥淎nd President Obama鈥檚 experience with Merrick Garland demonstrates that, even when a Democrat nominates a moderate jurist, Republicans will still try to paint them as a radical. The only real limiting factor is obtaining support from Senators (Kyrsten) Sinema and (Joe) Manchin, which will likely be achieved behind the scenes before the nomination is announced.鈥�
Some critics argue that Biden should pick the 鈥渂est person for the job,鈥� without consideration of race or gender. These critiques, however, ignore the fact that for most of the court鈥檚 history, race, gender and religion were key qualifications for the court, with only white Protestant men warranting consideration, noted , professor of political science and the C. Robert and Margaret Hanley Family Director of the Notre Dame Washington Program.听
鈥淭hese critiques also reveal a common problem with how we think about qualifications. There are, without question, many, many people with the qualifications 鈥� education, experience and ability 鈥� to sit on the nation鈥檚 highest court. There is no one best person, and every president decides on nominees on the basis of a range of considerations.鈥�