Biden vows to name Black Woman to US Supreme Court
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US President Joe Biden said that he plans to nominate a black woman to the US Supreme Court instead of a retiring Supreme Court Justice.
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Nominating a black woman for the US Supreme Court had been a campaign promise of Biden's
Joe Biden has announced that he plans on naming a black woman to replace the retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by the end of February.
Breyer had announced his retirement in a letter to Biden on Thursday, giving the President the chance to fill a vacancy on the nine-member court. The court currently holds a 6-3 conservative majority, which will not be changed through this appointment.
The person I nominate to replace Justice Breyer will be someone with extraordinary qualifications. Character, experience, and integrity.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 27, 2022
And they will be the first Black woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court.
Some activists saw this move by Breyer as a relief, as they had been publicly urging him to step down while the Democrats control the Senate. There was concern that if Breyer had not done so now, Republicans could block the confirmation of his successor if they won in future elections, or a future Republican president could name his successor.
This would give conservatives a 7-2 majority on the Supreme Court.
Potential nominees by Biden include Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer law clerk who was confirmed by the Senate last June to serve on an influential US appellate court, and Leondra Kruger, who serves on the California Supreme Court. Another potential contender is Michelle Childs, a federal district court judge in South Carolina who Biden already has nominated to the US appeals court in Washington.
Nominating a black woman to the US Supreme Court was one of Biden's campaign promises.
Biden 'disappointed in US Supreme Court ruling on COVID vaccine mandate
Biden had his differences with the conservative majority US Supreme Court previously. On January 14, US President Joe Biden had expressed disappointment over a Supreme Court decision striking down his vaccination-or-test mandate, as per which medium and large businesses were required to vaccinate or test their employees for COVID-19 as the virus is resurging across the world.
"I am disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law," Biden said in a statement.
Biden also urged employers and business owners to "do the right thing" to protect the health of Americans and the US economy.
