Biden to name Ketanji Brown Jackson, DC appeals court judge, to Supreme Court

President Biden will nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C., to the Supreme Court, setting up the likely seating of the nation’s first Black woman justice, according to multiple reports.

For Jackson, her nomination culminates a meteoric rise through the federal judiciary following just eight months on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a role she was chosen for after eight years as a federal district court judge in D.C.

Biden’s decision caps off a month of closely held deliberations at the White House over a replacement for Justice Stephen Breyer, who is due to retire at the conclusion of the Supreme Court’s current term this summer. 

Jackson, a former Breyer clerk, is expected to round out the court’s liberal wing, which also includes Sonia Sotomayor, 67, and Elena Kagan, 61. At 51, Jackson would also bring youth, diversity and likely a more liberal outlook than the 83-year-old Breyer, known for his judicial modesty and pragmatism.

Biden’s choice of Jackson delivers on his 2020 campaign vow to make history by nominating the first Black female Supreme Court justice. Other candidates he considered for the role included J. Michelle Childs, a U.S. district judge in South Carolina, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.