WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will formally announce U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his choice for a seat on the Supreme Court at the White House on Friday, marking the first time in history a Black woman has been named to the nation's highest court.
The nomination, Biden's first, will set off a frenzy of activity in the Senate, where Democrats have said they hope to use their thin majority to move to a final vote by early April. If confirmed, Jackson would replace Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced he intends to retire in June.
Jackson, 51, serves on the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. A former Breyer clerk, she was confirmed by the Senate last year for the appeals court.
First Black woman:Biden to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court
Pioneers:For Black women judges like Jackson, blazing a trail has meant scrutiny
Biden to introduce Jackson as SCOTUS nominee at 2 p.m.
President Joe Biden will formally introduce Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his Supreme Court nominee in remarks at 2 p.m. EST from the White House’s Cross Hall.
Jackson, a 51-year-old federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C. is also expected to speak.
The announcement comes during a challenging moment for the White House as Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Biden vowed to announce his nominee before the end of February, allowing him to tout Jackson’s credentials during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Jackson would make history as the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
The White House called Jackson “an exceptionally qualified nominee as well as an historic nominee” and urged the Senate to “move forward with a fair and timely hearing and confirmation.”
– Joey Garrison
Manchin noncommittal about voting to confirm Jackson
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., a critical swing vote on many issues in the evenly divided Senate, was noncommittal about voting to confirm Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“Just as I have done with previous Supreme Court nominees, I will evaluate Judge Jackson’s record, legal qualifications and judicial philosophy to serve on the highest court in the land,” Manchin said in a statement. “I look forward to meeting with Judge Jackson before determining whether to provide my consent.”
A moderate Democrat, Manchin has bucked Biden on the president’s domestic spending agenda and passing a filibuster carve-out for voting rights. He has publicly praised another contender who Biden considered for the Supreme Court, federal judge Michelle Childs of South Carolina.
Still, Manchin is widely expected to support Jackson’s confirmation, having voted for Jackson last year when Biden nominated her to the U.S. district court in Washington D.C.
Manchin has also expressed support for nominating a Black woman to the bench and has a record of supporting Supreme Court nominees of both parties. An exception was President Trump’s nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, citing the rushed process ahead of the 2020 election.
-- Joey Garrison
Barack Obama: Ketanji Brown Jackson inspires young Black women
Former President Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president, praised Jackson on Friday as a trailblazer who has "already inspired young Black women like my daughters to set their sights higher."
"Her confirmation will help them believe they can be anything they want to be," Obama said.
The former president nominated two justices to the Supreme Court – both women – Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan a year later. Sotomayor is the nation's first Latina to sit on the high court.
Obama also has a connection to Jackson: He nominated her to U.S. District court in 2009. Jackson was also reportedly on Obama's shortlist for the Supreme Court.
“Like Justice Breyer, Judge Jackson understands that the law isn’t just about abstract theory,” Obama said. “It’s about people’s lives.”
– John Fritze
Sen. Susan Collins praises Jackson’s experience, credentials
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, praised Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as an “experienced federal judge with impressive academic and legal credentials” in a statement about Biden’s Supreme Court nominee.
“I will conduct a through vetting of Judge Jackson’s nomination,” Collins said.
Collins was one of three Republican senators who voted for Jackson’s confirmation last year as a D.C. federal circuit judge, along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Graham criticized Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court Friday.
Collins, a moderate Republican who won reelection in 2020, voted for both of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
– Joey Garrison
Chuck Grassley, top Republican on Senate Judiciary, says 'I look forward' to meeting with Jackson
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said “I look forward to meeting with Judge Jackson face to face on Capitol Hill in the coming days, and working with Senator (Dick) Durbin to finalize the committee’s initial questionnaire and records request, as is customary in this process.” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is the chair of the committee.
“As I always have, I’ll make my determination based on the experience, qualifications, temperament and judicial philosophy of the nominee,” Grassley said, promising that Jackson will “receive the most thorough and rigorous vetting.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, another member of the committee, said “Ultimately I will be looking to see whether Judge Jackson will uphold the rule of law and call balls and strikes, or if she will legislate from the bench in pursuit of a specific agenda.”
– Dylan Wells
Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan praises Jackson’s character, integrity
As Senate Republicans weigh their response to President Joe Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court, one influential former GOP leader – Paul Ryan -- is praising Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Jackson is related by marriage to Ryan, the former House speaker. Jackson's husband is the twin brother of Ryan's brother-in-law. The former Wisconsin lawmaker testified on Jackson's behalf when she was nominated to the federal district court in 2012.
"Janna and I are incredibly happy for Ketanji and her entire family," Ryan tweeted on Friday. "Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji's intellect, for her character, and for her integrity, is unequivocal."
– John Fritze
Mitch McConnell: Jackson is 'favored choice of far-left, dark-money groups'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said “The Senate must conduct a rigorous, exhaustive review of Judge Jackson’s nomination as befits a lifetime appointment to our highest Court.”
McConnell noted that he voted against confirming Jackson to her current role when she faced a Senate vote last year. In the statement, McConnell framed Jackson as “the favored choice of far-left dark-money groups that have spent years attacking the legitimacy and structure of the Court itself.”
McConnell said he looks forward to meeting with Jackson in person, and “studying her record, legal views, and judicial philosophy.”
– Dylan Wells
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer: Jackson will get bipartisan support
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, will garner bipartisan support during her upcoming confirmation process in the Senate.
“Jackson has been confirmed by the United States Senate on a bipartisan basis three times and I expect she will again earn bipartisan support in the Senate,” Schumer said.
“As the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice in the Court’s 232-year-history, she will inspire countless future generations of young Americans,” he added.
Before Jackson faces a full Senate vote, she must first clear the Senate Judiciary Committee. Schumer promised a “prompt hearing,” after which he said he would “ask the Senate to move immediately to confirm her to the Supreme Court.”
“Judge Jackson’s achievements are well known to the Senate Judiciary Committee as we approved her to the D.C. Circuit less than a year ago with bipartisan support,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chair of the committee.
– Dylan Wells
Lindsey Graham slams Jackson pick after pushing for different nominee
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., slammed Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying it "means the radical left has won President Biden over yet again."
In the past, Graham broke party ranks and voted for Supreme Court nominees of President Barack Obama, including Associate Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. But his reaction suggests he won’t support Jackson’s confirmation as Biden seeks bipartisan support in the Senate.
Graham, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, had lobbied publicly for U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs for the nomination, a candidate who was also supported by Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. Graham was one of three Republicans who voted for Jackson's confirmation to the D.C. Circuit last year.
"The attacks by the Left on Judge Childs from South Carolina apparently worked," Graham wrote on Twitter.
– Joey Garrison
Pick named on vow's anniversary
There is a symmetry to the timing of Biden's announcement: Friday marked the two-year anniversary of his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Biden's campaign for the Democratic nomination was struggling in February 2020. Pete Buttigieg had narrowly captured the most delegates from the Iowa caucuses. Biden placed a disappointing fifth in New Hampshire. The future president announced his promise to choose an African American woman for the high court for the first time on the debate stage, four days before the South Carolina primary.
"Everyone – and no one's better than me and I'm no better than anyone else. The fact is, what we should be doing – we talked about the Supreme Court," Biden said in response to a question about the biggest misconception voters had about him. "I'm looking forward to making sure there's a black woman on the Supreme Court, to make sure we in fact get every representation."
The promise received little attention at the time. But Democrats said it resonated with Black voters there and probably contributed to his win in the state – fueling his path to the nomination and the White House. It also helped secure a critical endorsement of South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.
– John Fritze
Americans support diversity on court
Biden's announcement marks the first time a Black woman has ever been named to the Supreme Court. If Jackson is confirmed, it will also be the first time two African Americans serve on the high court together. And the first time four women will occupy the nation's highest bench at the same time.
A new USA TODAY/Suffolk poll shows that Americans broadly favor diversity on the court but disagree about how significant a factor it should be for presidents.
A third of Americans say diversity on the high court should be "an important factor" for presidents to consider when choosing nominees while another 11% say it should be the main factor, according to the poll of 1,000 likely voters, conducted Feb. 15-20. Twenty-nine percent said diversity should be "just one of many factors" considered.
Just more than two in 10 Americans said diversity shouldn't be a factor at all.
Poll:Majority of Americans say diversity should be a factor for Supreme Court
– John Fritze
Tricky timing for Biden on SCOTUS
It was supposed to be a reset for the Biden administration, a historic celebration of the first Black woman ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin had other plans.
Normally a Supreme Court nominee offers a White House a news cycle of solidly positive news. But the developing situation in Ukraine is likely to distract attention from Biden’s pick, and some had speculated the president might even reschedule it.
But White House officials stressed for days that the president wasn’t going to move his timeline and he had already set a deadline: The end of February. Biden was interviewing candidates for the post even as the situation in Europe deteriorated.
One timing advantage Biden still has – and what may have driven the decision not to postpone: The State of the Union address on Tuesday. That high-profile address will give Biden a high-profile opportunity to tout his pick to two audiences: The nation, and the Senate, which now takes up the task of considering her confirmation.
– John Fritze
