In an appeal to the progressive left, President Biden committed this week to select a Black woman to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. While Democrats regard Biden’s commitment to nominate a Black woman as a gain for diversity, over a dozen Senate Democrats previously sought to stop a Black woman from the federal judiciary when she was nominated by former President Trump.
All of the Senate Democrats in question voted against Ada E. Brown, former President Trump’s nomination for district judge in Texas’s northern district. Brown, a Black woman, was confirmed by a vote of 80-13 in September 2019, with Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer, Tammy Baldwin, Richard Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown, Maria Cantwell, Catherine Cortez Masto, Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono, Ed Markey, Patty Murray, Brian Schatz, Debbie Stabenow, and Ron Wyden voting against her.
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A Schumer spokesman cited the senator’s statements to reporters in New York on Wednesday, in which he said he anticipated the president to “follow through” on his vow to select a Black woman, and that the Senate would “act fast” on his nomination. Cantwell’s office cited the senator’s tweet on Breyer’s retirement and the “opportunity” to diversify the Supreme Court. On Thursday, the president said that he will make his Supreme Court selection based on the nominee’s color and gender.
“I’ve made just one decision: the individual I’ll nominate will have exceptional qualifications, character, experience, and integrity. And she will be the first African-American woman to be nominated to the United States Supreme Court “Biden stated. “In my opinion, it’s long overdue.” Bipartisan criticism has erupted in response to the revelation, with former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii tweeting on Friday about “Biden’s blunder.” “He should not choose a Supreme Court justice based on the color of their skin or their gender, but rather on their credentials [and] determination to preserve our Constitution [and] the liberties granted to all Americans in that document that serves as the cornerstone of our nation,” Gabbard wrote.
