President Biden released a list of 11 nominees for the federal bench, including a replacement for newly-confirmed Attorney General Merrick Garland, who previously served on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The list includes three Black women, and Biden called his selections a “trailblazing slate of nominees.”
“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession. Each is deeply qualified and prepared to deliver justice faithfully under our Constitution and impartially to the American people — and together they represent the broad diversity of background, experience, and perspective that makes our nation strong," the president said on Tuesday.
The president’s choice to replace Garland is D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a favorite of progressives, who was confirmed by the Senate twice. The announcement of her selection drew praise from far-left group Demand Justice.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a former public defender, an unflinching champion for justice, and Joe Biden's nominee to the second highest court in the United States. pic.twitter.com/O6bvsFE1JQ
— Demand Justice (@WeDemandJustice) March 30, 2021
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that Republicans should evaluate nominees on “merits and qualifications” as Democrats failed to do during the Trump administration.
“The committee should give them a hard look to see if they have the experience, the temperament, and the commitment to the Constitution necessary to be a federal judge,” Grassley said, per Fox News. “We should neither be a rubber stamp, nor should we oppose nominees as a matter of course, as many Democrats did during the Trump administration. As chairman of the committee I pushed the Trump administration to engage in thorough and thoughtful consultation with senators of both parties during the nomination process.”
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised the "highly qualified and diverse" nominees.