President Joe Biden said in an interview that aired Thursday that he’d cut his shortlist for the soon-to-be-vacated Supreme Court seat to “about four people.”
“I’ve taken about four people and taken the deep dive on them, meaning the thorough background checks and to see if there’s anything in their background that would make them not qualified,” he said on NBC.
The tally is roughly in keeping with public knowledge. The pool is generally thought to include at least Ketanji Brown Jackson of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court and Michelle Childs of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
He added that he thinks his pick will have some bipartisan appeal.
“I think whomever I pick will get a vote from the Republican side for the following reason: I’m not looking to make an ideological choice here, I’m looking for someone to replace Judge Breyer with the same kind of capacity Judge Breyer had — with an open mind, who understand the Constitution and interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the Constitution,” he said.
Biden invited Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) to the White House Thursday to talk Supreme Court nominees, making a very public show of his overtures to GOP lawmakers.
Biden has said previously that he plans to name his pick by the end of February.
