(Washington) US President Joe Biden has chosen his first Supreme Court nominee, US media reported Thursday evening.
Posted at 12:02 a.m.
The president promised during his campaign in 2020 to elevate the first black woman to America’s highest office. He reiterated that promise when Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, announced his retirement at the end of January.
Presidents typically hold a press conference with their Supreme Court nominees at the White House to officially announce their decision, but it’s not yet certain that Mr. Biden will do so on Friday, CNN reports, given the development of the situation in Ukraine.
Still according to the chain, the announcement should however take place no later than Monday, on the eve of the speech on the state of the Union that the president must deliver.
The White House has been tight-lipped about who will replace Justice Breyer, a liberal stalwart who plans to retire in June.
President Biden had planned to make a decision before the end of February. On Thursday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed that he still intended to stick to that schedule, despite the Ukraine crisis.
Selecting a Supreme Court justice involves extensive background checks to avoid unpleasant surprises during Senate television hearings.
If Mr. Biden’s candidate passes this milestone, she will become the third African-American person, after Justices Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas (who still sits on the Court), and the first black woman, to sit on the Supreme Court.