Judge Michelle Childs is under consideration for Supreme Court nomination

South Carolina federal judge Michelle Childs is under consideration to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House confirmed late Friday.

Childs, 55, is based in Columbia, South Carolina, and was nominated last year by President Biden to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, often regarded as the second-most prominent federal court because of its proximity to the high court, the caliber of cases it considers and because so many of its judges have been elevated to the Supreme Court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing for Childs's nomination next week, but aides confirmed Friday that her hearing would be postponed.

The White House explained late Friday the postponement is because Childs is under consideration to succeed Breyer.

"Judge Childs is among multiple individuals under consideration for the Supreme Court, and we are not going to move her nomination on the Court of Appeals while the President is considering her for this vacancy," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

Childs is among several contenders under consideration, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, also a judge on the D.C. appeals court, and Leondra Kruger, a justice on the California Supreme Court who once served in the Justice Department's Office of the Solicitor General.

[SOURCE: CBS NEWS]

Biden to nominate South Carolina Judge Michelle Childs to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

President Joe Biden will nominate South Carolina U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs to fill the pending vacancy on the prestigious and influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the White House said Thursday.

A U.S. District Court judge for more than a decade, Childs’ resume includes work as a South Carolina state trial court judge on the circuit court from 2006 to 2010 and as a commissioner from 2002 to 2006 on South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Commission, a panel that hears injured workers’ claims.

Childs’ elevation to the court would put her at the forefront for consideration if a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court opens up. Supreme Court justices are often plucked from the D.C. Circuit. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, appointed by former President Donald Trump, and Merrick Garland, nominated by former President Barack Obama, both served on the D.C. Circuit. Garland’s nomination was ultimately scuttled, but he is now the U.S. attorney general.

Childs, 55, is considered a contender for the U.S. Supreme Court. Her name has been part of a larger conversation about elevating a Black woman to the Supreme Court, pushed loudly in large part by U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C

“Judge Childs has served with distinction on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. She has distinguished herself with keen intellect, fundamental fairness, and exemplary temperament; and is a leader among her peers, currently serving as President of the Federal Judges Association,” Clyburn said Thursday after the White House made its official announcement.