The speculations regarding who would become US President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court have circulated for some time since the announcement. As Biden prepares to select a candidate for the high court, the White House pushed back on a notion regarding who the US leader might choose.
The White House responded Monday to the notion that Biden would be willing to “gaming the system” by choosing a nominee who has a better chance of gaining bipartisan support among the senators. Biden has reiterated his campaign pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the high court, an announcement that was met with criticism, mostly from Republicans. According to aides, the list of potential nominees is longer than three names.
“The president is going to select a woman, a Black woman, who is qualified, who is prepared, who has impeccable experience to serve on the court. He’s going to do that based on her credentials, of course having a discussion with her and not through gaming out the system,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Biden met with Senate Judiciary chair Senator Dick Durbin and ranking minority member Senator Chuck Grassley to discuss the potential nominees. The nominee will be replacing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced last week that he would be retiring by the time the court’s term ends in June, provided that his successor has already been chosen and confirmed.
To note, Biden also served as the Senate Judiciary Chair when he was a senator and presided over senate confirmations of six Supreme Court nominees, Breyer included.
This time, Biden has pledged to announce his nominee by the end of the month.
In other related news, with the Build Back Better bill stalled in the Senate as Democrats remain short of votes needed, the party’s lawmakers are now urging the US leader to pass the portion of the bill that addresses the ongoing issue of climate change. House Democrats are urging Biden to pass the $555 billion climate change investments that were provisions of the Build Back Better bill.
A group of Democrats, who are also up for re-election in the midterms in swing districts, are demanding that Biden move to finalize clean energy and the climate provisions that can pass the Senate in the coming weeks. They cited that climate change needs immediate action.