Biden vowed to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Here's a look at his shortlist.
Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images; S. Todd Rogers/AP; Charles Dharapak/AP
- Justice Stephen Breyer is reportedly stepping down from the Supreme Court.
- President Biden previously promised to make a Black woman his first selection to the court.
- Insider has a look at some of the names reportedly on Biden's shortlist.
President Joe Biden has promised to select a Black woman as his first Supreme Court justice. Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement has set off the speculation over whom will become his historic replacement.
Based on multiple reports and Insider's own reporting, here's where Biden's shortlist currently stands.
As of January 31, the White House has only confirmed that J. Michelle Childs, a South Carolina federal judge, is under consideration.
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images
Age: 51
Experience: Jackson joined the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in 2021. Previously, she served on the DC federal district court from 2013 to 2021. From 2010-2014, she served on the US Sentencing Commission. She also clerked for Breyer.
Education: Harvard Law School; Harvard University
What could help her chances: Jackson received bipartisan support for her 2021 confirmation to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, often referred to as the nation's second-highest court. Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Lindsey Graham all voted for Jackson. The Senate confirmed her 2013 nomination by voice vote, which is often typical for presumed uncontroversial lower-court picks.
What key people are saying: "She's the odds-on favorite," to be Biden's first nominee to the nation's highest court, Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and a former clerk at the DC Circuit, told Insider earlier this month.
What you may know about her: Her blistering 118-page opinion brushing back President Trump's efforts in 2019 to thwart congressional investigations received significant attention, especially her declaration that "Presidents are not kings."
What you may not know about her: Her uncle, The Washington Post reported, was serving a life sentence in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction before President Barack Obama later commuted his sentence.
How her resume compares to current justices:
- 3 justices served on the DC Circuit: Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh all rose up from what has traditionally been one of the stepping stones to the high court.
- 9 justices were Supreme Court clerks: Six of those justices (Justices Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Breyer) currently serve on the court. If confirmed, Jackson would join Kavanaugh, who clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy, as a former Supreme Court clerk who later replaced their boss on the court.
- 21 justices have attended Harvard Law School: Four of those justices (Roberts, Breyer, Kagan, and Gorsuch) currently serve on the court.
Leondra Kruger
AP Photo/S. Todd Rogers, Pool, File
Age: 45
Experience: Kruger joined California's state Supreme Court in 2015. From 2007-2013, she served in both the George W. Bush and Obama Justice Departments. She also clerked for former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens during the 2003-2004 term. She was also the first Black woman to serve as editor of the Yale Law Review.
Education: Yale Law School; Harvard University
What may help her chances: Kruger argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court during her time in President Obama's Justice Department. She also assisted in the Obama administration's defense of the Affordable Care Act, which resulted in the 2012 landmark 5-4 ruling upholding most of Obamacare.
What you may know about her: Kruger was the first Black woman to serve as editor in chief of the prestigious Yale Law Journal.
What you may not know about her: If confirmed, she would be the first justice to jump from a state Supreme Court to the US Supreme Court since Sandra Day O'Connor's historic move in 1981.
How her resume compares to current justices:
- 6 current justices worked in various parts of DOJ: Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito both worked in the Office of Solicitor General. Justice Kagan was actually a solicitor general herself.
- 11 justices attended Yale Law School: Three of those justices (Thomas, Sotomayor, and Kavanaugh) currently serve on the court. Like Kruger, Sotomayor served as editor of the Yale Law Journal.
- 9 justices were Supreme Court clerks: Six of those justices (Justices Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Breyer) currently serve on the court.
J. Michelle Childs
Charles Dharapak/AP
Age: 55
Experience: Childs has served on the federal bench in South Carolina since 2010. Biden recently nominated her to serve on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. From 2006-2010, she served as a state-level circuit court judge in South Carolina. From 2000-2006, she served as a gubernatorial appointee on South Carolina's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and later its Worker's Compensation Commission. From 1992-2000, she worked in private practice where she became the first black female partner at a major law firm in the state.
Education: University of South Carolina Law School; University of South Carolina School of Business (Masters); University of South Florida (BS)
What the White House has said: A White House spokesman told The Washington Post on January 26 that Childs is under consideration. Its statement came after Childs' nomination to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals was put on hold given the impending Supreme Court vacancy.
- What key people are saying: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina offered effusive praise for Childs saying she is "incredibly qualified", "fair-minded," and that he "can't think of a better person" to potentially become Biden's pick. Graham voted for both of President Barack Obama's nominees that received a full confirmation vote, meaning he could be one of the few Republicans to lend Biden's pick bipartisan backing.
What you may know about her: Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, has publicly confirmed that he previously pushed the White House to consider Childs before Breyer announced his decision. Clyburn's endorsement of Biden helped springboard him to the presidency and he remains a key and powerful ally.
What you may not know about her: If confirmed, Childs would be the first justice who attended a public who attended a public law school since Justice Sherman Minton, who retired from the court in 1956.
- Only 1 current justice attended a non-Ivy League law school: Barrett received her law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
- Only 1 current justice served on a federal district court judge: Justice Sonia Sotomayor served as a district court judge in New York from 1992-1998 before being nominated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Candace Jackson-Akiwumi
Tom Williams/AP
Age: 42
Experience: Jackson-Akiwumi currently serves as a circuit court judge on the Seventh Circuit, which oversees Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Previously, she worked in the private sector from 2007-2010, when she worked as a litigation associate for Skadden Arps. She also worked in the public sector as a law clerk from 2005-2007.
Education: Princeton University; Yale Law School
Eunice C. Lee
Age: 51
Experience: Judge Lee sits on the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. She clerked for a district judge and an appeals court judge after graduating from law school in 1996. According to her biography, Lee worked at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City from 1998 to 2019. Biden nominated Lee for the second circuit last May and the Senate confirmed her to the position in August by a vote of 50-47. She is the first former federal defender to serve on the second circuit and the longest-serving public defender to be an appeals court judge.
Education: Ohio State University; Yale Law School
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