Will Biden Nominate Kamala Harris For Supreme Court Seat? White House Says No

Of all the names floating around to succeed Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on the nations’ highest court after his retirement, some ask: what about Vice President Kamala Harris?

If Harris, who is also the former attorney general of California, was to be nominated to the Supreme Court, she could leave her current position in which most critics agree her performance has been uninspiring. President Joe Biden would fulfill his promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, and a vice president vacancy could be filled by someone like Hillary Clinton.

However, this scenario is likely not the case. Harris’ former chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders went so far as to call the speculation “right-wing gossip with no basis in facts.”

“The president has every intention, as he said before, of running for reelection and for running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Wednesday.

In the unlikely event that Harris be Biden’s nomination to replace Breyer, a Senate confirmation could get complicated. As Vice President, Harris is also the tiebreaker in a 50-50 vote, but questions would be raised if she confirmed herself to the Supreme Court. If that somehow were to happen, a Vice President confirmation would get murkier without a Democrat tie-breaker in an evenly split Senate.

So, no. Despite the conversation since Breyer’s retirement announcement, Harris is not a likely candidate to replace him.

Biden is expected to announce his nominee soon. Most say front-runners include Ketanji Brown Jackson and Leondra Kruger.

“In the Senate, we want to be deliberate. We want to move quickly. We want to get this done as soon as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said.