Biden Nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson as First Black Woman for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden nominated federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday in a demonstration of his pledge to appoint the first Black woman to the court.

“I’m proud to announce that I am nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court,” Biden wrote in a tweet. “Currently serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, she is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and will be an exceptional justice.”

Jackson, 51, is considered a liberal who would be replacing Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, after he announced his retirement last month that he plans for this summer. She would be one of three liberals on a Supreme Court dominated by six conservatives, three of them appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Jackson is expected to win easy approval by the Senate based on her strong support among Democrats and tepid support among a few Republicans who could provide swing votes. In her previous nominations to the federal bench, the Republicans included Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

Jackson would be confronting highly controversial cases in her first few months on the job that include possible restrictions on abortions, eliminating affirmative action for college admissions and determining the authority of states to limit voting rights.

Republicans who oppose her nomination are expected to renew their concerns raised during the confirmation hearings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last summer. They asked about Jackson’s record of overturned decisions while she was a U.S. District Court judge.

In one 2018 ruling, she invalidated three executive orders that limited collective bargaining rights of federal employees. In a 2019 decision, she blocked a Department of Homeland Security rule that expanded fast-track deportations of illegal immigrants without hearings.

Both of the rulings were overturned by the Court of Appeals.

She is best known for her Nov. 25, 2019, decision that ordered former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify to Congress during a hearing on whether to impeach Trump for obstruction of justice. McGahn had defied a House Judiciary Committee subpoena by claiming executive privilege as a member of the presidential administration.

Biden’s tweet was followed hours later by his public presentation of Jackson during an official announcement at the White House.

“For too long, our government, our courts, haven’t looked like America,” Biden said at the White House ceremony. “I believe it’s time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications, and that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.”

During the White House ceremony, Jackson thanked people who helped her career, including Breyer.

“My life has been blessed beyond measure and I do know that one can only come this far by faith,” Jackson said.

“Among my many blessings, and indeed the very first, is the fact that I was born in this great country,” she said. “The United States of America is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known. I was also blessed from my early days to have had a supportive and loving family.”

Initial reactions from political leaders about Biden’s announcement are raising many of the issues that were mentioned by senators during Jackson’s confirmation hearing last summer.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Jackson’s nomination “means the radical left has won President Biden over yet again.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, “With her exceptional qualifications and record of evenhandedness, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be a justice who will uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of all Americans, including the voiceless and vulnerable.”

The American Constitution Society, a public policy foundation, said in a statement, “Judge Jackson’s extensive record as a judge demonstrates her commitment to fairness, impartiality and equal justice for all.”

Outside the Supreme Court, a group of more than 100 of Jackson’s supporters gathered late Friday, some holding signs that said, “Confirm KBJ.”

“We are celebrating a historic nomination,” said Monifa Bandele, chief strategy officer for MomsRising, as she spoke to the crowd through a megaphone. MomsRising is a New York-based nonprofit social welfare organization.

Nearby stood Marge Baker, vice president of the civil rights organization People for the American Way.

“It’s long overdue,” Baker told The Well News about the nomination of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. “It will mean a lot to my children and my grandchildren.”

Jackson’s nomination leads immediately to a review of her qualifications by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. It is an independent, nonprofit organization that rates nominees to the federal judiciary based on peer comments.

Its ratings as either “Well Qualified,” “Qualified” or “Not Qualified” often are used by the Senate Judiciary Committee in deciding whether to confirm nominees.

Senate Democratic leaders said they hope to complete the confirmation by mid-April.

Jackson served as a U.S. District Court judge from 2013 until last summer, when she was appointed to the Court of Appeals. As a district judge, she wrote more than 500 opinions.

Previously, she worked as a public defender, vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and a clerk for Breyer.

She attended Harvard University for undergraduate and law school. She was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Miami, Florida.

Tom can be reached at [email protected]