Jackson Says White House Reached Out About Supreme Court Jan. 30

(Bloomberg) -- White House officials first contacted Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson four days after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his planned retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 149-page filing that showed the administration was prepared to find a successor to Breyer, Jackson said she heard from White House Counsel Dana Remus on Jan. 30 and met with Vice President Kamala Harris by Zoom Feb. 11. 

Three days later, she interviewed with President Joe Biden, who offered her the nomination on Feb. 24 and announced it publicly the next day, according to the documents submitted to the Senate panel considering her nomination.

Democrats, who control the Senate only because of Harris's tie-breaking vote, are seeking to move Jackson's nomination through the body quickly, even though Breyer isn't stepping down until the Supreme Court term ends in late June or early July. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin has said he would like to complete the process by April 9.

Jackson's questionnaire listed a labor-law opinion she wrote only a month ago as her most significant case as a federal judge. The ruling, which tossed out a Trump-era policy that made it easier for public-sector employers to impose workplace changes, is one of only two full opinions Jackson has written since becoming a federal appeals court judge in June.

Jackson was a federal district judge for eight years before Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

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