The first of President Joe Biden’s potential nominees for the Supreme Court has been revealed.
The White House has confirmed U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs of South Carolina is on the list to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
Childs is backed by Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the House majority whip.
Biden is said to be considering multiple candidates to the court while standing by his campaign pledge to nominate an African American woman, which has prompted pushback from some Republicans.
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Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said it was “clumsy” and politicized the process.
Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker said whoever the president picks will be a “beneficiary of affirmative action.”
Speaking Sunday on CBS’ Face The Nation, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) disagreed.
“I believe there are plenty of qualified women conservative and liberal that could go onto the court. So I don’t see Michelle Childs as an act of affirmative action,” he said. “I do see putting a black woman on the court making the court more like America.”
“Here’s what I will tell (Biden) and the nation: I can’t think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court than Michelle Childs,” Graham said. “She has wide support in our state, she’s considered to be fair-minded, a highly gifted jurist – she’s one of the most decent people I’ve ever met.”
An ABC News/ Ispsos poll released Sunday shows more than three-quarters of Americans believe the president should consider all possible nominees for the Supreme Court.
The poll was conducted after Biden said Thursday he would announce his nominee to the high court before the end of February. The candidate he said, would be a Black woman, fulfilling a promise he made during the presidential campaign.
“The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court,” Biden said. “It’s long overdue in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment.”
According to the poll, 54% of Democrats support the idea of considering all nominees. Only 23% of voters polled want the president to keep his promise and only considered candidates who are Black women.
As CBN News has reported, besides Judge Childs, also said to top the list of potential picks is Ketanji Brown Jackson, who got three Republican votes, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, when the Senate confirmed her to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last June.
Also on the shortlist is Leondra Kruger, of the California Supreme Court, and Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, of the U.S. District Court of Georgia.
Evangelist Franklin Graham tweeted his hopes for the next nominee, saying, “We need to pray for the next nominee. We need someone who fears God—and who supports and protects the U.S. Constitution.”
The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs’ KnowledgePanel® January 28-29, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 510 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.9 points, including the design effect. You can see the methodology here.
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