J. MICHELLE CHILDS

With “Three Johns” aspiring to succeed McConnell, Republicans keep tabs on how their caucus splits on big votes.

Childs will be the only appointee of President Biden on the influential appeals court — but likely not for long.

Childs Appellate Court FILE - U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs stands in the federal courthouse where she hears cases on Feb. 18, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. Senators, including a number of Republicans, voted 64 to 34 to approve Childs’ nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Senators, including a number of Republicans, voted 64 to 34 to approve Childs' nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Childs, 56, has been a federal judge on South Carolina's District Court for more than a decade. Circuit slot, but her hearing was postponed while she was also under consideration for the Supreme Court.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed the nomination of South Carolina jurist Michelle Childs to sit on the federal court typically seen as a proving ground for the nation’s highest bench.

In his first year, President Biden installed the highest number of federal judges in four decades, choosing nominees from diverse racial, gender and professional backgrounds.

"If we were in charge, she would not have been before this committee," said Graham, who voted to confirm her to the DC Circuit last year.

Sen. Lindsey Graham grilled SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on her faith, judicial record and stormed off during the hearing Tuesday.

Arabella Advisors has become an all-purpose villain for Republicans, but there’s no evidence to support his charge.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) fumed over progressive criticism of J. Michelle Childs, a district court nominee who was also a Supreme Court contender, and accused Democrats of holding a double standard against GOP nominees. Graham's remarks, which came near the start of the four-day hearing for President Biden's actual nominee for the court - Ketanji Brown Jackson - are the most extensive comments Graham has given on Jackson's nomination since...

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is winning praise from a key Senate Republican.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has begun courting senators on Capitol Hill, making her case for confirmation in private meetings as Democrats worked to move her nomination through the Senate within weeks.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has taken the first step toward confirmation in the Senate.

While the White House sought to portray a deliberative process, few in Washington expected the president to choose anyone other than the appellate court judge.

President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats say they are hoping for a bipartisan vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Ketanji Brown Jackson is an unequivocally well-qualified nominee for the Supreme Court. But if she is confirmed, the court’s conservative hammerlock will not change.

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court has launched what Democrats hope will be a quick, bipartisan confirmation process for the court’s first Black woman.

Eight months after he voted to confirm her appointment to the federal bench, Sen. Lindsey Graham called President Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court a victory for the “radical Left.”

Why Biden picked her, how the vote more go, and the significance of the moment.

Graham voted to confirm Jackson to the DC Court of Appeals in June 2021, but he was pushing for Biden to nominate J. Michelle Childs.

Biden has selected his nominee for the high court and may announce it as soon as Friday

Americans are starkly divided by race on the importance of President Joe Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

President Biden has pledged to announce his Supreme Court nominee by the end of the month.

He is expected to announce his nominee by the end of February.

Biden President Joe Biden speaks about Ukraine in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, in Washington. A second person familiar said Biden had interviewed at least two candidates for the post. Psaki declined to discuss whether Biden had conducted interviews but insisted the president was “on track” to make the selection despite rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. “We believe a Supreme Court nominee ought to be respectfully treated, thoroughly vetted and then voted upon.”___AP writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden has interviewed at least three candidates for the Supreme Court.

As the president enters the final stages of his Supreme Court selection process, the White House has begun advising allies on how to push back against expected attacks.

As the president enters the final stages of his Supreme Court selection process, the White House has begun advising allies on how to push back against expected attacks.

The president previously said he has narrowed his list down to four choices. He is expected to announce a nominee by the end of February.

Just being the newest member of the Supreme Court can be a momentous adjustment for a justice.

Biden President Joe Biden speaks about Ukraine in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Washington. And while the president is eager for input, the White House insists he’s not going to be swayed by any sniping. There's a long history of lobbying campaigns for and against Supreme Court candidates, the former sometimes launched by those who try to catch the ear of presidential advisers to extol a potential nominee's virtues. Kruger would be the first person in more than 40 years to move from a state court to the Supreme Court. But she's also won the endorsement of some labor groups, including the South Carolina chapter of the AFL-CIO.

The whispers and chatter about top contenders for the Supreme Court are growing as President Joe Biden zeroes in on a nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Black Americans in the law profession worry about Biden's overt use of race as a prerequisite for a Supreme Court nomination at such a hyper-partisan time.

Clyburn has tremendous influence in the White House, and he has made clear he wants Biden to appoint U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs to the Supreme Court.

If President Joe Biden’s search for a nominee to the Supreme Court could be summed up by a Help Wanted ad it might read: “Seeking a well-respected liberal jurist.

With just 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans — with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote — no vote can be taken for granted.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted that if Biden were to nominate Supreme Court prospect Michelle Childs, she would garner more than 10 Republican votes.

Childs lacks the elite law school credentials of many current Supreme Court justices — she attended the University of South Carolina School of Law. She was previously a state court judge and has served as a federal trial court judge since 2010. Jackson did attend Harvard Law School and has expertise that would bring considerable professional diversity to the high court. Kruger, 45, has been on the California Supreme Court since 2015. The Supreme Court was made up entirely of white men for almost two centuries.

President Joe Biden had zeroed in on a pair of finalists for his first Supreme Court pick when there were rumors last year that Justice Stephen Breyer would retire.

The president huddled with Senate Judiciary Democrats as his Supreme Court pick looms.

Black female lawmakers warn against pitting SCOTUS candidates against each other.

The nation's highest court has not been without a graduate of Harvard Law since 1881.

President Biden’s potential nomination of Judge J. Michelle Childs to the Supreme Court is giving him another opportunity to either try for a bipartisan victory or heed the wishes of the left of his party.

Supreme Court Biden FILE - Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court, listens during her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 16, 2010. President Joe Biden has already narrowed the field for his first U.S. Supreme Court pick. One potential nominee is Childs, currently a U.S. District Court Judge for Southern California, who has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,. Childs has been a federal judge in South Carolina for more than a decade. Those include California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer clerk now on the D.C. appellate court.

A bipartisan group of two dozen former South Carolina federal prosecutors are offering their “wholehearted support” for Judge Michelle Childs’ nomination to an appellate court.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON — (AP) — President Joe Biden is having Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over to the White House on Wednesday to talk about how to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Schumer, D-N.Y. has promised the Senate will have a fair process that moves quickly to fill the vacancy. South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott have both praised Childs, who got her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Graham on Wednesday tweeted out a photo of the three South Carolina lawmakers sitting together at lunch.

President Joe Biden had Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over to the White House on Wednesday to talk about how to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden has already narrowed the field for his first U.S. Supreme Court pick. But there has been focus on Childs due to advocacy from U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest ranking Black leader in Congress. It's also something that advocates, including Clyburn, have said would help make the Supreme Court more representative of America. In private practice, Childs “did everything” in the realm of employment law, Eslinger said, working on administrative, construction, corporate and bankruptcy cases. That same year, President Barack Obama nominated Childs for an opening on the federal district court in South Carolina.

The fact that Michelle Childs is under consideration to fill a Supreme Court vacancy comes as no surprise to some of her legal colleagues in South Carolina.

Critics are agitated and distressed by the audacity of such an intentional choice.

President Biden and Vice President Harris met with key senators in the Oval Office to discuss who could replace Justice Breyer after his retirement.

Biden reaffirmed his campaign vow to nominate a Black woman to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court and plans to announce his choice this month.

Many Republicans have criticized Biden for vowing to nominate a Black woman, despite President Ronald Reagan's similar pledge to name a woman to SCOTUS.

The White House says President Joe Biden will meet with Senate Judiciary Committee leaders on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court vacancy and the president’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the high court.

Graham praised judge J. Michelle Childs, who is among the names Biden is considering for the position created by Breyer's retirement.

Graham praised District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs, who is among the names Biden is considering for the position created by Breyer's retirement.

At Joe Biden’s lowest moment in the 2020 campaign, influential Rep. Jim Clyburn suggested that Biden should pledge to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

“Democrats know Black women are going to turn out for them so they have everything to lose if they don’t do this." But Biden’s pledge also responds to issues Black women care about, said Glynda Carr, president of Higher Heights For America PAC, which advocates for Black women in politics. Black women — like women of all races — have been increasingly likely to earn college degrees over the past two decades. The nomination of a Black woman is also significant for Black men, said Adrianne Shropshire of BlackPAC, a political organization that tries to elect more Black Democrats. Still, Shropshire warned, a Supreme Court appointment is only one step in ensuring Black voters are motivated in 2022 and beyond.

The striking promise is a reflection of Black women's critical role in the Democratic Party and the growing influence of Black women in society. “Democrats know Black women are going to turn out for them so they have everything to lose if they don’t do this." But Biden’s pledge also responds to issues Black women care about, said Glynda Carr, president of Higher Heights For America PAC, which advocates for Black women in politics. Black women — like women of all races — have been increasingly likely to earn college degrees over the past two decades. The nomination of a Black woman is also significant for Black men, said Adrianne Shropshire of BlackPAC, a political organization that tries to elect more Black Democrats.

President Joe Biden is nodding to his most stalwart supporters in promising to nominate a Black woman for the new vacancy on the Supreme Court.

J. Michelle Childs Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court, listens during her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 16, 2010. (Charles Dharapak/AP Photo, File)U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs has emerged as a possible pick for a nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court following Justice Stephen Breyer’s announcement that he plans to retire from his post on the nation’s highest court. She has also served as a commissioner on the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission and as deputy director for the Division of Labor at the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The high-profile court has often been seen as a feeder to the Supreme Court, according to CNBC. Childs has one daughterIn August 2000, Childs married Floyd Angus, a doctor with a practice in Sumter, South Carolina, according to The Greenville News.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON — (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday affirmed his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying it was “long overdue." Sentencing Commission and has been a federal trial court judge since 2013 in the District of Columbia. He made it official on Thursday; the Supreme Court sent out his retirement letter just before the two were to meet. Justice Clarence Thomas is the court’s only Black justice and just the second ever, after Thurgood Marshall. Kagan joined Obama’s other nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina justice, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

President Biden is weighing his options for a nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who plans to retire this year. CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford has more on the impact of Breyer's retirement, and CBS News senior White House correspondent breaks down the opportunity it presents for the Biden administration.

Senate Democrats have played defense for the last three Supreme Court vacancies.

President Biden has vowed to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court if a seat were to open up.

This is the largest number of confirmed judges since Reagan was president.

Childs, currently a U.S. District Court Judge for Southern California, is nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The second nominee, also a woman of color, is J. Michelle Childs, currently a U.S. District Court judge for Southern California. Her deep experience in voting rights will be extremely relevant, White House officials and advocates say, especially considering the increasing challenges facing voters this year following a series of GOP-led restrictions. Of the 40 confirmed so far, 80% are women, with 53% being people of color, according to the White House. The Senate confirmed 18 circuit and district court judges in Trump’s first year in office, and 12 in Obama’s inaugural year.

President Joe Biden is making two final nominations to the federal bench this year as he caps his first year in office with 40 judges confirmed.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a requirement that South Carolina residents voting by mail in November’s election get a witness to sign their ballots. While the high court reinstated the requirement as a lawsuit over it proceeds, voters have already started returning ballots. And a judge blocked the witness requirement before the state’s primary in June. As is typical when the Supreme Court acts on an emergency basis, the justices did not explain their decision. He said it wasn’t for a court to second-guess the lawmakers’ decision to retain the witness requirement during the pandemic.