White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki faced questions about whether President Joe Biden would consider nominating Vice President Kamala Harris to the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, NBC News’ Peter Alexander asked, “What preparations is the White House engaged in broadly in the case of a Supreme Court vacancy?”
“I’m just not going to detail any of that from here,” Psaki responded.
Alexander then asked, “Is there any scenario in which the president would select his vice president, Kamala Harris, for the Supreme Court?”
“I’m not going to speak to any considerations, preparations, lists,” Psaki said, adding, “There’s a long history of Supreme Court justices determining when they may retire, if they retire, and announcing that. And that remains the case today.”
Watch the video below:
.@PeterAlexander & @pdoocy ask @PressSec if VP Kamala Harris is being considered for the Supreme Court.
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 26, 2022
"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 as his partner." pic.twitter.com/nBaRLb6pT3
Fox News’ Peter Doocy followed up on Alexander’s question and noted, “When you were asked about the Vice President possibly being selected as a Supreme Court nominee, you said you’re not going to speak to any considerations.”
He asked, “Does that mean she is being considered?”
“I’m not going to speak to the reports of a Supreme Court justice retirement that hasn’t been announced,” Psaki said.
However, that did not deter Doocy, who asked, “Hypothetically, would someone who was an attorney general of a large state and who served with many key Senate votes be an attractive candidate to the president for an open Supreme Court seat?”
Harris was California’s attorney general before running for Senate in 2016.
“I see what you did there,” Psaki said. “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 as his partner.”
However, she added, “I have nothing more to offer in terms of specifics or information on the reports this morning.”
The questions come after NBC News reported that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, will retire at the end of the court’s current term later this year.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden vowed to nominate the first Black woman to the court.
Biden made history in 2020 when he selected Harris to be his running mate, which made her the first woman of color to serve as vice president.
