Biden says he has done 'deep dive' on 4 possible Supreme Court candidates
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he's done a "deep dive" on four potential candidates to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer on the US Supreme Court, but he declined to name any of the prospective nominees.
Posted — Updated"I've taken about four people and done the deep dive on them, meaning thorough background checks, to see if there's anything in the background that would make them not qualified," Biden told NBC News' Lester Holt in an interview taped Thursday.
The White House this week indicated that Biden remains on track to select a nominee before his self-imposed end-of-February deadline. The President has said he plans to nominate a Black woman to the high court, which would be a historical first.
DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs have been widely viewed as an early short list.
The President also remained optimistic about garnering the support of Senate Republicans, telling NBC News, "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 understands the Constitution, interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the Constitution."
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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