Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates

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With the advice and consent of the United States Senate, the president of the United States appoints the members of the Supreme Court of the United States, which is the highest court of the federal judiciary of the United States. Following his victory in the 2020 presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden took office as president on January 20, 2021. During the 2020 Democratic primary campaign, Biden pledged to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court,^[1][2][3] although unlike his opponent, Donald Trump, Biden did not release a specific list of potential nominees during the 2020 general election campaign.^[4]

In February 2022, Biden selected Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who is retiring at the end of the court's 2022 term.^[5][6]

Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson[]

On January 26, 2022, it was reported that Justice Stephen Breyer planned to step down at the end of the court's current term, giving Biden his first opportunity to name a justice to the court.^[7] On January 27, Biden reiterated his intention to keep his campaign promise to nominate a Black woman.^[8] On February 22, it was reported that Biden had met with his top three contenders, Ketanji Brown Jackson, J. Michelle Childs and Leondra Kruger.^[9][10] On February 25, it was announced that Biden would nominate Judge Jackson.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Names mentioned as likely nominees[]

Following is a list of individuals who have been mentioned in various news accounts as possible nominees for a Supreme Court appointment under Biden:

Note: Individuals marked with an asterisk would fulfill Biden's commitment that his first nominee be a Black woman.^[8]

Bolded individuals have been selected by Biden for the Supreme Court.

United States Courts of Appeals[]

Courts of Appeals

• Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
  • Ketanji Brown Jackson* (born 1970)^{[1][2][15][16][17][18]} (elevated by Biden) (nominated)
  • Sri Srinivasan (born 1967)^[2]
• Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
  • Eunice C. Lee* (born 1970)^{[15][17][19][18]} (appointed by Biden)
  • Alison Nathan (born 1972)^[2] (elevated by Biden)
• Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
  • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi* (born 1979)^{[15][16][17][19][18]} (appointed by Biden)
• Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
  • Michelle Friedland (born 1972)^[15]
  • Lucy Koh (born 1968)^[2] (elevated by Biden)
  • Jacqueline Nguyen (born 1965)^[2]
  • Holly A. Thomas* (born 1979)^[16][17] (appointed by Biden)
  • Paul J. Watford (born 1967)^[15]
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • Tiffany P. Cunningham* (born 1976)^[15][17] (appointed by Biden)
  • Todd M. Hughes (born 1966)^[2]

United States District Courts[]

• J. Michelle Childs* (born 1966) – Judge of the District of South Carolina^{[15][16][20][17][18]} (nominated to D.C. Circuit by Biden)
• Leslie Abrams Gardner* (born 1974) – Judge of the Middle District of Georgia^[1][15][18]
• J. Paul Oetken (born 1965) – Judge of the Southern District of New York^[2]
• Wilhelmina Wright* (born 1964) – Judge of the District of Minnesota and former Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court^[19][17][18]

State Supreme Courts[]

• Cheri Beasley* (born 1966) – former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court^[20]
• Anita Earls* (born 1960) – Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court^[19][17]
• Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (born 1972) — former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court^[2]
• Leondra Kruger* (born 1976) – Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court^{[1][2][3][15][16][17][18]}
• Goodwin Liu (born 1970) – Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court^[2]
• Tamika Montgomery-Reeves* (born 1981) – Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court^[21][18]
• Maite Oronoz Rodríguez (born 1976) – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico^[2]

State government officials[]

• Stacey Abrams* (born 1973) – former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and 2018 nominee for Governor of Georgia^[2][3]
• Keisha Lance Bottoms* (born 1970) – former Mayor of Atlanta^[2][3]
• Letitia James* (born 1958) – Attorney General of New York^[2][3]

Academics[]

• Michelle Alexander* (born 1967) – author and civil rights advocate^[1][3]
• Danielle Holley-Walker* (born c. 1975) – dean of the Howard University School of Law^[15][20]
• Pamela S. Karlan (born 1959) – professor of law at Stanford Law School^[2]
• Melissa Murray* (born 1974), professor of law at New York University School of Law^[1][3][17]
• L. Song Richardson* (born 1966–67), president of Colorado College^[18]
• Kenji Yoshino (born 1969) – professor of constitutional law at New York University School of Law^[2]

Executive branch[]

• Kristen Clarke* (born 1975) – Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division^[15][22][18]
• Kamala Harris* (born 1964), Vice President of the United States (2021–present), United States Senator from California (2017–2021), Attorney General of California (2011–2017), District Attorney of San Francisco (2004–2011)^{[23][24][better source needed]}

Other fields[]

• Nancy Abudu* (born 1974) – deputy legal director and interim director for strategic litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center (nominated to Eleventh Circuit by Biden)^[17]
• Arianna J. Freeman* (born 1978) – federal community defender (nominated to Third Circuit by Biden)^[17]
• Sherrilyn Ifill* (born 1962) – director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund^{[1][3][17][18]}

See also[]

• United States federal judge
• Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts

References[]