President Biden said Tuesday he was taking seriously the “advice” part of the Constitution by meeting with the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy.
The president convened with Sens. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat and the panel chairman, and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s ranking Republican. The influential panel oversees the Supreme Court confirmation process, including holding hearings.
“The Constitution says ’advise and consent, advice and consent,’ and I’m serious when I say I want the advice of the Senate as well as the consent,” Mr. Biden said about the meeting.
The meetings are part of the president’s formal “advice” phase of his search for a Supreme Court pick and more meetings are expected later this week.
Mr. Biden is expected to convene with lawmakers from both parties, Vice President Kamala Harris and legal scholars, as he mulls whom to nominate to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer.
When asked Tuesday about what he’s looking for in a nominee, Mr. Biden offered a general list of attributes.
“I’m looking for a candidate with character, with qualities of a judge in terms of being courteous to the folks before them and treating people with respect, as well as a judicial philosophy that … there are unenumerated rights in the Constitution, and all the amendments mean something, including the Ninth Amendment,” he said.
The fire about particular potential nominees has started incoming.
Michelle Childs, a South Carolina federal judge who is said to be on Mr. Biden’s shortlist and has the support of House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, is drawing criticism from a progressive group as being anti-labor.
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, slammed Judge Childs as “a former labor and employment lawyer who repeatedly worked on behalf of employers against unionization drives.”
“President Biden vowed to be the ‘most pro-union’ ever, and it is imperative he keeps this campaign promise by nominating a pro-union Justice,” Mr. Geevarghese said.
“It would be nonsensical to nominate a union-busting justice to the nation’s highest court. President Biden must stand by his word and nominate a pro-union, Black woman,” the statement continued.
Mr. Biden reiterated Tuesday he intends to name a replacement by the end of February and vowed a “rigorous” selection process.
He had pledged during the 2020 presidential campaign to pick a Black woman, a promise he has said in the past week will be kept.
Top candidates to replace Justice Breyer include federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was confirmed in June to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.
In addition to Judge Childs, other contenders for the lifetime appointment are said to include U.S. District Judges Wilhelmina Wright (Minnesota) and Leslie Abrams Gardner (Georgia), and Sherrilyn Ifill, director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.