President Joe Biden has interviewed three potential Supreme Court nominees: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger, and J. Michelle Childs, multiple reports said.
Biden's decision on who will replace retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer is expected by the end of the month, CNN reported Tuesday. The president has pledged to name the first Black woman to the high court.
The media outlet added that White House officials reached out to liberal groups to urge them to support top-tier candidates against attacks from critics, according to a person who was contacted.
Although Jackson generally has been considered the front-runner, a source told CNN that Biden had not made up his mind on the choice.
The Washington Post cited sources who said Biden may have interviewed other potential nominees, too.
Jackson, 51, sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Kruger, 45, sits on the California Supreme Court. Childs, 55, sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
"The President has not yet chosen a nominee," White House spokesman Andrew Bates told CNN. "He continues to evaluate eminently qualified individuals in the mold of Justice Breyer who have the strongest records, intellect, character, and dedication to the rule of law that anyone could ask for — and all of whom would be deserving of bipartisan support. He looks forward to announcing a nominee this month."
Cedric Richmond, senior adviser to the president, informed members of the organization Win With Black Women during a Sunday night video call that the White House was "close" to finalizing the pick, a Washington Post source said.
"We know what some of the attacks are going to be: not qualified, affirmative action pick," Richmond told the group, the Post said. "Well, it wasn't 'affirmative action pick' when we just picked friends, white friends of the president, for all these decades. You know, it was just patronage or whatever they wanted to call it."
Jackson, a former Breyer clerk, has sat on the federal bench for nine years and has a background as a public defender, the Post reported.
Childs is a favorite of House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., an influential Biden ally. She has won praise from Republicans in her home state of South Carolina.
Kruger has represented the federal government before the Supreme Court, where she once clerked.
Fox News reported that former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., was guiding the confirmation process, which would include private meetings with senators. Jones also would lead practice sessions — aka "murder boards" — to prepare the nominee for Senate committee questioning.
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