- President Joe Biden is expected to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
- If confirmed, Jackson will replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
- Senate Democrats plan to move quickly to confirm Biden's nominee.
President Joe Biden is expected to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, a source familiar with the process told Insider.
Jackson will be the first-ever Black woman tapped to serve on the nation's highest court, fulfilling Biden's 2020 campaign promise to nominate the first Black female justice. If confirmed, she would also be only the third Black justice in the court's 232-year history, and would join another Black justice currently on the bench, Clarence Thomas.
The historic Supreme Court pick comes roughly a month after Breyer announced his plans to retire. The 83-year-old, a Clinton appointee, has served on the Supreme Court for nearly 28 years and will step down at the end of the current term.
Jackson was a fan favorite among progressives who lauded her background as a public defender as important professional diversity experience to bring to the court.
Jackson currently sits on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, a seat that Biden nominated her for a year ago. Previously, she served on the DC federal district court for seven years.
The 51-year-old judge was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Miami, Florida. She attended Harvard for both her undergraduate and law degrees and served as an editor on the Harvard Law Review.
Her career kicked off with a series of federal clerkships, including one with Breyer on the Supreme Court in 1999. Jackson's resume boasts a wide range of experience in the legal industry, private practice, and on the US Sentencing Commission.
Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to move quickly to confirm Biden's nominee, who only needs a simple majority vote to get appointed to the court. If confirmed, Jackson will not change the court's 6-3 conservative majority, but maintain its ideological balance.
Biden vowed to reshape the makeup of the federal judiciary after President Donald Trump's judicial appointees were overwhelmingly white. In the past year, Biden nominated the most demographically diverse set of judges in history, according to Brookings. Roughly 75% of his nominees are women, and 65% are people of color, according to the Alliance for Justice. Biden also made a slew of firsts, including appointing the first Muslim American federal district judge and the first openly LGBTQ woman on a federal appeals court.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.