The President previously called the opportunity to appoint a Black woman to the high court ‘long overdue’
“The President has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during the White House press briefing.
Psaki had no additional details or statement about the news of Breyer’s retirement.
“Every justice has the right to decide what he or she is going to do, and announce that on their own,” Biden said. “There’s been no announcement from Justice Breyer. Let him make whatever statement he is going to make, and I’ll be happy to talk about it later.”
Breyer will be leaving the high court after two decades on the bench, and Biden’s pick to replace him is expected be a younger, fellow liberal who could serve on the court for decades. It’ll be the President’s first chance to nominate someone to the high court.
Breyer informed Biden of his decision to retire last week, two sources familiar with the conversation told CNN.
Biden had said throughout his 2020 presidential campaign that he was committed to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court if elected.
“I (have) committed that, if I’m elected as president and have the opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I’ll appoint the first Black woman to the court. It’s required that they have representation now — it’s long overdue,” Biden said in March 2020.
A short list of potential nominees had been circulating Washington well before Breyer’s retirement plans became public, and officials in the White House Counsel’s Office built files on various candidates in anticipation of a potential vacancy.
On Wednesday, Psaki declined to comment on rumors that Vice President Kamala Harris could be considered for a Supreme Court vacancy. However, she reiterated that the President has every intention on “running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Ariane de Vogue, Tierney Sneed, Betsy Klein, DJ Judd, Kevin Liptak and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.
