- Peru's ex-president Toledo gets 20 years for corruption
- Chile launches vaccine that neuters dogs for a year
- Toxicology tests show Liam Payne had 'multiple' drugs in system: reports
- WNBA players union opts out of deal, now set to end in 2025
- Harris woos on-the-fence Republicans, Trump tours storm damage
- Henderson howler hands Forest victory over Crystal Palace
- Yankees and Dodgers to renew epic rivalry in World Series
- Stock markets mostly slide, oil jumps as China cuts rates
- Parents of Venezuela minors held after election ask UN to intervene
- NBA and Nike extend partnership deal for 12 years
- Israel strikes 300 Hezbollah targets as US urges war's end
- Tourist dreams turn sour after Cuba lights go off
- Italy PM seeks to save Albanian migrant deal amid spat with judges
- Tagovailoa returns to NFL practice Wednesday after concussion
- US infant mortality spiked after right to abortion overturned: study
- Blinken back to Middle East to push for Gaza truce
- Neymar returns for Al Hilal in Al Ain thriller
- TGL set for January start as Woods-McIlroy might meet Jan. 27
- US Grand Prix - three things we learned
- Welsh rugby's future more important to Gatland than saving his job
- Venezuela arrests ex-oil minister accused of US links
- President Biya lands back in Cameroon after health rumours
- Watson out for NFL season with ruptured Achilles tendon
- Disney expects to name Iger's successor in early 2026
- Emery wants to 'break barriers' at transformed Aston Villa
- Hezbollah-linked financial firm an economic lifeline for Lebanese
- London trial probes 2015 Brazil mine disaster
- Police in Mozambique disperse vote protest
- Ancelotti wants goals over pressing from Madrid star Mbappe
- Major crypto, diamond fraud trial opens in France
- Electricity restored to 50% of Havana after nationwide blackout: Cuba state media
- How much aid is getting into Gaza?
- King Charles caps Australia trip with Opera House bash
- England's Buttler out of West Indies ODI series
- Moldova president hails EU referendum win after Russia meddling claims
- Van Dijk talking to 'right people' over Liverpool contract
- Vietnam's top leader pushes anti-corruption fight
- Arteta urges Arsenal to use Bournemouth 'pain' against Shakhtar
- Rabada fastest to 300th Test wicket, as Bangladesh all out for 106
- Erdogan rival Gulen dies in exile at 83
- Man Utd's Ten Hag relishing Europa League clash with Mourinho
- Amnesty says migrant workers exploited at Carrefour Saudi stores
- Fethullah Gulen: ex-Erdogan ally who became public enemy number one
- Seoul demands 'immediate withdrawal' of North Korean troops in Russia
- WHO to evacuate 1,000 Gazan women, children for urgent medical care
- Erdogan's rival Fetullah Gulen dies in exile aged 83
- Gauff-led USA pitted with Canada at season-opening United Cup
- Sanofi pursues sale of painkiller after political controversy
- Rabada takes 300th wicket as Bangladesh stumble to 60-6 at lunch
- Alpacas, hecklers and climate warnings: King Charles visits Australia's capital
RBGPF | 1% | 61.11 | $ | |
JRI | -0.53% | 13.15 | $ | |
BCC | -2.78% | 137.9 | $ | |
NGG | -1.45% | 67.03 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.68% | 7.4 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.65 | $ | |
SCS | -0.93% | 12.89 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.68% | 24.87 | $ | |
RIO | -0.63% | 64.95 | $ | |
RELX | -1.13% | 47.63 | $ | |
BCE | -0.45% | 33.39 | $ | |
VOD | -1.35% | 9.63 | $ | |
AZN | -1.06% | 77.44 | $ | |
GSK | -1.02% | 38.16 | $ | |
BP | 0.44% | 31.47 | $ | |
BTI | -0.73% | 34.25 | $ |
Biden promises to put Black woman on Supreme Court for first time
President Joe Biden said Thursday he will nominate a Black woman to the US Supreme Court for the first time in history, filling the vacancy left by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
"I've made no decision except (the) person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity," Biden said in an address from the White House.
"And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court."
Biden, speaking at a podium alongside Breyer, also indicated that he would seek a speedy nomination process, promising to name his candidate by the end of February.
The exit of Breyer, who is 83, gives Biden a likely smooth opportunity to name a replacement to the lifelong seat on the Supreme Court while his Democratic Party retains control of the Senate.
The Supreme Court is currently split between six conservatives and three liberals. Biden will now be able to nominate another liberal-leaning jurist to the court, maintaining the balance.
Breyer had been under pressure from liberals to leave in time for Biden to get his nominee through the Senate before November's midterm elections, when Republicans are in a strong position to win majorities in Congress and would then control the approval process.
As president, Donald Trump had the rare opportunity to put no fewer than three new justices on the court, fundamentally shifting its political leaning for potentially years to come.
Biden's one pick so far will have nowhere near that level of impact. However, the Democrat will be glad of a successful confirmation process, delivering a much needed morale boost to his party ahead of the midterms.
As an immediate reminder of the tensions that Supreme Court confirmations often provoke, Republican senior Senator Mitch McConnell warned Biden "not to outsource this important decision to the radical left."
"To the degree that President Biden received a mandate, it was to govern from the middle," McConnell said.
In his resignation letter, published Thursday, Breyer underlined the coordinated plan to ensure that the succession moves with minimal upheaval, confirming that he will stay on the court through the packed current term -- but not before his replacement is ready.
"I intend this decision to take effect when the court rises for the summer recess this year (typically late June or early July) assuming that by then my successor has been nominated and confirmed," he wrote.
- Campaign pledge -
Biden promised to put an African-American woman on the court back when he was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The vow was part of his vital outreach to the Black community, which became a crucial component in ultimately defeating a crowded field of Democratic rivals and then unseating Trump.
Biden put the first Black and Asian woman, Kamala Harris, on the ticket as his vice president, and since taking office has also pushed hard to place more women and ethnic minorities as senior judges.
Biden said that in the search for Breyer's replacement, he would be asking Harris to help, describing her as "an exceptional lawyer" and noting she was a former member of the Senate judiciary committee -- a body he himself led while serving as a senator.
Among the leading candidates to replace Breyer are Ketanji Brown Jackson, a US Court of Appeals judge, and Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had "already started reviewing potential candidates" and the nomination process should “happen as expeditiously as possible.”
Of the 115 justices who served on the Supreme Court, only five have been women, including three today -- Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. Only two have been Black men, one of whom is current Justice Clarence Thomas.
Breyer is the oldest justice on the court and was nominated in 1994 by then Democratic president Bill Clinton.
Praising Breyer, Biden highlighted his bipartisan spirit, saying he "patiently sought common ground" and was "a model public servant in a time of great division in this country."
sms/dw
L.Carrico--PC