Here’s who Biden is thinking.
In a statement released Friday (January 28), White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates confirmed that South Carolina District Court Judge Michelle Childs is being considered as a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
In a statement to Fox News, Bates revealed Childs was one of “multiple individuals under consideration,” adding that they would not be moving “her nomination on the Court of Appeals is considering her for this vacancy.”
Bates also revealed that reports circulating that the President was “only seriously considering three potential candidates” was incorrect.
Many have speculated Childs –– who is scheduled to appear on Tuesday at a hearing on Capitol Hill as part of her Circuit Court confirmation process –– is Biden’s frontrunner and top pick.
So far, Childs has already earned the support of House Majority Whip James Clyburn. Clyburn was influential in pushing Biden to pledge during his 2020 presidential campaign that he would be nominating the first black woman justice to the Supreme Court, endorsing Biden the day after he made the announcement.
Clyburn has also revealed he is partial to Childs, preferring her over other potential candidates. Speaking to the Washington Post, the Majority Whip mentioned that he didn’t have “anything against the seven or eight names” he’s seen floating about before saying he had “been discussing Michelle Childs with the President and his people now for…at least 13 months.”
The Democratic lawmaker felt Childs’ upbringing in a blue-collar family, serving as a workers comp judge and possibly becoming the only justice on the bench without an Ivy League education –– Childs graduated from South Carolina Public Law School –– would make her an “outstanding federal judge.”
As Biden rushes to appoint a Supreme Court justice following Justice Breyer announcing his retirement, Clyburn conveyed his confidence that Childs could gain Republican support, despite the highly polarizing nomination and heavily divided Senate.
