An initial shortlist named at least three potential candidates. Now, CNN is reporting the list may include nine more potential picks, making it at least 12 names long. Some are still awaiting approval for a prior court appointment.
The new candidates include a judge Ted Cruz once referred to as an "activist advocate;" a civil rights attorney who compared bans on felons voting to slavery, while comparing a need to show "proof of citizenship to vote" to "voter suppression;" an NYU professor who favored impeaching Donald Trump and who called New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's defense of the president during the trial a "death spiral of stupid;" and a North Carolina Supreme Court justice who founded a group that provides lawyers to social justice advocates.
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Biden announced liberal Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement after nearly 30 years on the court on Thursday, with the 83-year-old present by his side.
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Placing a new, young liberal on the high court would mark a much-needed win for Biden, whose first year in office was marked by foreign policy crises, legislative setbacks, and plummeting poll numbers.
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The list solidifies that the president intends to fulfill his long-held campaign pledge of appointing the first black woman to the Supreme Court.
Judge J. Michelle Childs, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger were widely considered on the early shortlist.
In a statement Friday, a White House spokesman announced Childs was "under consideration" for the spot, but pushed back on the idea that Biden was only considering a few potential nominees.
During his remarks on Thursday, Biden vowed to hear recommendations from both sides of the aisle, adding that the SCOTUS nominee "will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court."
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President Joe Biden delivered remarks Thursday on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer - and confirmed he would select a Black woman to be Breyer's replacement, which prompted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to immediately stoke fears the President would select someone endorsed by the "radical left."
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"Our process is going to be rigorous. I will select a nominee worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy of excellence and decency," President Biden asserted. "While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity."
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