UPDATE: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki didn't comment when asked about the potential for Vice President Kamala Harris to be nominated for the Supreme Court. Psaki also confirmed Biden plans to discriminate against candidates who are not female and black.
Jen Psaki won't say whether or not Biden would consider nominating Kamala Harris to the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/U6BAjt6FLr
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 26, 2022
PSAKI: Biden stands by his promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/0ZFuTgEPgc
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 26, 2022
***Original post***
During the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden promised to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court if a vacancy became available.
"As president, I'd be honored, honored to appoint the first African American woman. Because it should look like the country. It’s long past time," Biden said in February 2020.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: During a March 2020 debate, then-presidential candidate @JoeBiden vows that if elected and given the "opportunity to appoint someone," he "will appoint the first Black woman to the Court." pic.twitter.com/NZLuLOvrsC
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 26, 2022
"We are putting together a list of a group of African American women who are qualified and have the experience to be on the court," he followed up in June.
In March 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden is "absolutely" committed to his promise if the opportunity presented itself. With the news of Justice Breyer's retirement, Biden may have his chance, and Vice President Kamala Harris is at the forefront of many people's minds.
Get ready for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kamala Harris
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) January 26, 2022
Honestly Biden is probably just trying to find a way to get Kamala Harris out of this administration, if she's on the supreme court she can't be a pain in his ass and also can't lose in 2024 to whoever republicans nominate
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) January 26, 2022
If it isn't Harris, Biden has other choices. From NBC News:
Supreme Court justices are usually elevated from a federal appeals court. Eleven of the last 12 confirmed justices were plucked from an appellate court — the exception was Elena Kagan, who was the U.S. solicitor general, a position so embedded with the institution it has been nicknamed “the tenth justice.”
Only five black women are now on U.S. appeals courts, and all of them will be 68 or older this year, according to data compiled by NBC News from the Federal Judicial Center.
Biden would face pressure to pick someone younger who could secure the seat for a generation or more. None of the last seven confirmed justices were older than 55 when nominated.
There are only nine Democratic-appointed black women on the federal bench younger than 55 this year. All are district court judges picked by President Barack Obama. The youngest is Leslie Abrams Gardner, 45, the sister of Biden vice presidential contender Stacey Abrams. Another name that stands out is Ketanji Brown Jackson, 49, a judge in Washington who was on Obama’s Supreme Court shortlist in 2016.