"Biden, a veteran of a more bipartisan Senate, said from the beginning that he wanted support from both parties for his history-making nominee, and he invited Republicans to the White House as he made his decision."'He kept a promise’: How Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation boosts Biden’s legacy
WASHINGTON - White House allies say they’re confident Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court will shape President Joe Biden’s legacy long after he leaves office — even if the appointment does not offer Democrats a political boost in time for November’s midterm elections. For a president besieged by surprise crises from new coronavirus variants to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the unexpected opening on the Supreme Court allowed Biden to reassert control over his own presidency and fulfill a promise of special importance to his most loyal base of supporters. Prominent Biden allies say that putting the first Black woman on the Supreme Court will play a consequential role in how future generations of Americans view his tenure, particularly if Jackson continues to serve on the high court for decades after he exits politics.
“I hope it is viewed as a positive turning point,” said Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat and close ally of Biden’s. “I hope that the public now appreciates the significance of the confirmation of Justice Jackson. But I am confident that the public in the future will realize the significance of this moment.” Jackson’s confirmation comes at a critical moment in Biden’s presidency, with his presidential approval rating near a personal all-time low and federal elections just months away. Since the fall of last year, Biden has struggled to control surging inflation, a persistent pandemic and members of his own political party, who have stalled part of his legislative agenda. Those setbacks have prevented the president from restoring the sense of normalcy he promised the country during his campaign and enacting the sweeping societal changes he envisioned.
But Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement announcement this winter presented a constructive opportunity, allies say, one in which the president had considerably more influence than other issues plaguing the White House. That Jackson’s nomination was never in serious doubt and eventually won the support of three Republican senators reinforced the perception that the former Judiciary Committee chairman handled the process capably. “Unfortunately he cannot, by himself, control the coronavirus,” said former Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, who served with Biden in the Senate for a dozen years. “Or dictate all the details of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.” “A human being can be only held accountable for what they have the ability to control,” she continued. “And he himself, one man, he himself can personally determine who his nominee is going to be. He made a promise, and he kept a promise.”
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said that he expects Biden, who pledged publicly to appoint a Black woman at a South Carolina presidential primary debate, to build upon the success of Jackson’s confirmation. “I think he’s going to keep plugging along, keep doing the things he promised to, keep doing the things that need to get done. And I think that at some point in the not too distant future people will see what that’s all about, and I think he’ll be rewarded successfully,” Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, said in an interview.
HISTORIC SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTSSupreme Court appointments have always been among the most meaningful areas of a president’s legacy. Dwight Eisenhower’s selection, for instance, of former Chief Justice Earl Warren left an enduring mark on the country’s legal system, expanding civil rights and ending school segregation. Jackson’s nomination in particular could influence views of Biden’s legacy, presidential historians say, because of the historic nature of the pick.
“Anytime racial, gender or ethnic barriers are broken on the court, it’s a milestone in history,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian from Princeton University. “And that’s part of what the president has done.” Zelizer cautioned that Biden wasn’t able to change the court’s ideological makeup in the way former President Donald Trump did with his appointment of three Supreme Court justices, potentially tempering the appointment’s impact. Jackson will replace Breyer, who regularly sided with liberals during his tenure, maintaining conservatives’ 6-3 edge on the court. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that in spite of the international turmoil and domestic challenges the president is facing, his administration intends to celebrate Jackson’s confirmation and it expects many Americans to do the same. “I can’t make a prediction on what that will mean for polls, and it’s really not about that for us,” she added.
BIDEN’S LEGISLATIVE HEADWINDS Biden had some help this week from Barack Obama, who he had lunch with Tuesday at the White House prior to an East Room event celebrating the former president’s signature legislative achievement.
Obama reflected on his dedication to getting the Affordable Care Act passed into law, despite worries it might cost him reelection. He told assembled Democratic lawmakers and Biden administration officials that sometimes “progress feels way too slow” and “victories are often incomplete,” but the episode is evidence of what is possible for elected officials who follow their convictions in the face of obstacles and criticism.
“President Joe Biden understands that. He has dedicated his life to the proposition that there’s something worthy about public service and that the reason to run for office is for days like today,” Obama said.
Psaki insisted that Obama’s message was not about the midterms but acknowledged it “sounds pretty similar to what we’re working on today” as she noted that the former president also talked about overcoming skepticism, Republican dissenters and division within his own political party.
In an interview, Clyburn, who attended the Obama event, compared Biden to former President Harry Truman during his first term, pointing out that Truman’s presidential approval rating plummeted after he integrated the armed services.
“Now people look back and talk about him being in the top 10,” Clyburn said of Truman, who won election to a second term. “So, Joe Biden is doing what he needs to do for the country. And let the polling and the headline seekers do what they want to do.”
Coons said that when the chapter is written about this period in Biden’s presidency, it would reflect that the “president managed to nominate the right person, we got through the hearings, and we got her confirmed in the middle of war breaking out in Europe.”
Jackson was, according to polls, one of the most popular Supreme Court nominees in recent times. A Gallup survey released in March found that 58% of Americans supported her confirmation, higher than all but one former nominee (current Chief Justice John Roberts) in the last 30 years. Just 30% of adults opposed her confirmation.
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