The world of politics has its sights set on the U.S. Supreme Court this week. Days ago, reports indicated that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire at the age of 83 years old. In the wake of this news, many turned their attention to President Joe Biden as he would be the political figure to nominate the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
President Joe Biden has an opportunity to make history with the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee. During his run to the White House, he repeatedly said that he would nominate a Black woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court if given the opportunity.
“We talked about the Supreme Court — I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented,” he said during a presidential debate, according to The Hill.
One month later, Biden doubled down on his remarks.
“I commit it that if I’m elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I’ll appoint the first Black woman to the courts. It’s required that they have representation, now it’s long overdue,” he said, according to The Hill.
Amid Breyer’s imminent retirement, many of Biden’s political counterparts have publicly asked him to follow through on his campaign promise.
“In the wake of Justice Breyer’s retirement, I want to voice my support for President Biden in his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court,” Senator Pat Murray stated, according to The Hill.
“The Court should reflect the diversity of our country, and it is unacceptable that we have never in our nation’s history had a Black woman sit on the Supreme Court of the United States — I want to change that.”
While it is unclear when Biden will unveil his nominee, it appears that the President will live up to his campaign pledge. During a recent press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden “has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that.”
Potential nominees include Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, J. Michelle Childs of the federal district court in South Carolina and Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
