Jarrett Renshaw (Jeff Mason) and Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will nominate Ketanji Jackson, a federal appellate judge to be the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. This is according to two sources who are familiar with the matter.

Jackson’s announcement, which is expected to be made at the White House will set up a battle for confirmation in the deeply divided Senate. Because of Russia’s invasion, Biden’s timing for his announcement was uncertain.

Biden plans to choose Jackson, 51 to fill the position of Supreme Court Justice. Jackson will succeed Justice Stephen Breyer (83), who, at the age of 83, is the oldest court member. Of the 115 people https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/institution.aspx#:~:text=Since%20the%20formation%20of%20the,an%20average%20of%2016%20years who have ever served on the Supreme Court, only two have been Black and both of those were men.

Jackson would be the sixth female to ever serve on the court. Currently, there are three women justices.

The liberal bloc would include her on an assertive court, which has a 3-3 conservative majority and three of the justices that were appointed by Donald Trump’s predecessor Biden.

J. Michelle Childs (a South Carolina district judge) and Leondra Kruger (a California Supreme Court justice), were also candidates for the nomination.

The Senate voted 53-44 last year to confirm Jackson https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-confirms-biden-appointee-seen-supreme-court-contender-2021-06-14 after Biden nominated her to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, with three Republican senators backing her. Republicans asked Jackson last year whether her race played a part in Jackson’s decision-making process. She denied that it was. She was previously confirmed by the Senate as a Federal District Judge, an office she held for 8 years.

Jackson was born in Miami, and she attended Harvard Law School. She has an extensive legal record, including representing criminal defendants, when she started her career. A three-judge panel ruled in December against the attempt of former Republican President Donald Trump to block White House records from being transferred to a congressional committee investigating last year’s Capitol attack.

Democrats desire to proceed with the confirmation process, even though they still control the Senate. Breyer has been serving since 1994. In January, he announced his intent to resign when the current term of the court ends, which is likely at the end June.

Biden’s selection of Jackson as the new court president will not affect its ideological balance. But, it does allow Biden to reenergize its liberal wing by adding a young jurist to their ranks who could be in line for many decades. This is just what Trump’s three appointees are able to do.