The White House is quietly working with Senate Democrats to ensure that President Biden has a steady stream of nominees to federal courts, according to people familiar with the matter and an administrative official.
Why it mattersBiden wants the federal judiciary to better reflect the country’s demographics and tries to protect its unfolding legislative agenda from a judiciary currently dominated by Trump-appointed officials.
- With Democrats now in control of the White House and Senate, liberal-minded federal judges are already announcing their retirement.
- The government’s first announcements are expected this month, but could shift to April.
The intrigue: Allies outside the White House say Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is Black and 50, is likely to be nominated for a spot on the prestigious DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
- That could prepare her for the Supreme Court should 82-year-old Judge Stephen Breyer retire.
Driving the news: The White House has 10 appeals openings, including two in the DC court of appeal, and about 60 job openings in federal district courts.
- It places a premium not only on ethnic diversity, but also on the background and experience of candidates, seeking judges from outside the usual pool of corporate attorneys.
- Age will matter, but not as much as it does for Trump.
- “We are getting a pipeline ready,” said an administrative official. “We want a constant supply.”
- Biden may not be able to match the former president’s stamp on the courts – he has confirmed 234 federal judges, including three Supreme Court justices – but has informed Democrats that he intends to act quickly to fill the vacancies. to fulfill that he can.
Between the lines: In December, new White House counsel, Dana Remus, asked Democratic senators to send the White House the names of potential U.S. District Court judges within 45 days of the announcement of a vacancy.
- The White House will take the lead for the more powerful Circuit Court justices, one step below the Supreme Court.
- It is also considering disclosing a list of nominees, as President George W. Bush did at a Rose Garden ceremony in May 2001.
- The strategy would be to blitz the public – and the senate – with a display of diversity while showing strength in numbers.
What they say: “If you have a slew of judges, it gives you the chance to have several public defenders, civil rights attorneys and labor attorneys to really show the breadth of the legal profession and what Biden is trying to achieve in a way that is not possible with just one or two judges, ”said Christopher Kang, co-founder and principal advisor of Demand Justice.
- The Biden government is not ready to make its strategy public.
- “It’s less about whether the first appointment is singular or plural,” said the government official. “The lesson we learned was that you need a steady drumbeat from nominees.”