Biden picks Ketanji as first Black woman on SC

Washington: President Joe Biden picked Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday to be the first Black woman in US history to serve on the nation’s highest court.

"I’m proud to announce that I am nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court," Biden said. "She is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and will be an exceptional Justice."

The president will officially unveil his decision later Friday at an appearance with Jackson, the White House said. Jackson, 51, was appointed to the federal bench in 2013, and was backed by three Republican senators last year when she was elevated to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, seen as a staging ground for aspiring Supreme Court justices.

With one liberal justice replacing another the announcement will not reshape the ideological make-up of the court -- but it is a huge moment for Biden personally and politically. White House officials hope it will provide a few days of positive news coverage ahead of the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. The pick presents an opportunity for the administration to pivot from a spate of bad news in recent months, with Biden’s domestic agenda stalled amid runaway inflation and plummeting poll numbers.

The announcement is a chance for Biden to show the Black voters who rescued his floundering 2020 primary campaign that he can deliver for them following the recent defeat of voting rights legislation.

"Ketanji Brown Jackson is an intellectual heavyweight and highly regarded jurist who has dedicated her life and career to the service of others," said Mondaire Jones, one of the first Black openly gay congressmen.

Black Americans are among Biden’s strongest supporters, with two-thirds approving of his job performance, according to a CBS poll released last week. His popularity among the key demographic however declined over the months following his inauguration and he has not recovered the lost ground.

In his first year in office, Biden nominated 62 women to the federal judiciary, including 24 Black women. But there are still only a few dozen active Black female judges on the federal bench out of almost 800 total.

The president had promised during his successful 2020 White House run to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court for the first time in US history. The pledge dismayed some Republicans who thought ruling out candidates of other backgrounds would further politicize the judiciary. Dismissing the objections, Biden shortlisted a handful of top Black women to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, including southern jurists J. Michelle Childs and Leandra Kruger.