Biden says he’ll nominate a Black woman to Supreme Court by end of February

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President Biden said Thursday that he will announce his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer before the end of next month, and that the candidate will be a Black woman.

“I’ve made no decision except one: The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court,” Biden said. “It’s long overdue, in my view.”

Biden added: “It is my intention… to announce my decision by the end of February.”

The comments came at a joint event with Biden and Breyer at which the justice formally announced his retirement. Biden’s timeline for a nominee matches with Breyer’s request that the Senate confirm his successor by the end of the current Supreme Court term, at which point the justice to step down.

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“I intend this decision to take effect when the Court rises for the summer recess this year (typically late June or early July) assuming that my successor has been nominated and confirmed,” Breyer wrote in a letter to Biden Thursday.

The Senate can indeed hold hearings on Breyer’s replacement and vote on that person before leaves the court. Republicans did this under former President Donald Trump when they confirmed Judge Justin Walker to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals months before his predecessor, Judge Thomas Griffith, stepped down.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also said Wednesday that they plan to advance any Biden nominee quickly through the Senate.

That strategy may prove effective in getting Biden’s first justice on the high court. But it may also limit the political momentum Biden can expect from finally fulfilling a major campaign promise to progressives by nominating a Black woman.

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“Somebody was saying from the Senate that they want to do what the Republicans did with Amy Coney Barrett, and she was approved in 30 days,” University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato told Fox News. “If that happens it won’t have any effect on the midterms because people will have forgotten about it by November.”

Barrett’s confirmation was historically fast. Republicans were trying to ensure she was on the bench before the presidential election, which former President Donald Trump lost.

Most Supreme Court confirmations in recent decades, however, took approximately two or three months.

That means if Biden announces a nominee in late February, Breyer’s replacement would be confirmed by late March if the Senate follows the Barrett timeline, or between late April and May if it follows the more common precedent.

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That means it’s likely, barring something unforeseen, that Breyer’s successor will indeed be ready to take the bench by the end of the Supreme Court’s term. And that person will break a barrier as the first Black woman on the court.

“I made that commitment during the campaign for president and I will keep that commitment,” Biden said Thursday, of nominating a Black woman.

Biden also said Vice President Harris, who is Black and a former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will advise him.