Editor’s note: The original January 2022 version of this article was lost. The Lee Daily Register rebuilt it in October 2026 from the reporting cited below, and added what happened with the nomination.
The White House is answering U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who said on Friday that President Joe Biden’s coming Supreme Court nominee would be a “beneficiary” of affirmative action.
Wicker made the remark on SuperTalk Mississippi Radio on Jan. 28, a day after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, according to the Mississippi Free Press. Biden has pledged to nominate the first Black woman to the court and said he would announce a pick by the end of February.
What Wicker said
Wicker told host Paul Gallo it was ironic that the court was hearing a case on affirmative action in college admissions while adding a justice he described as a beneficiary of a quota. He said he had no plans to vote for the nominee and predicted the pick might not get a single Republican vote, the Mississippi Free Press reported.
The paper noted that Wicker did not object when President Donald Trump pledged to name a woman to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and that he supported Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation.
The White House response
Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement on Saturday, Jan. 29, that Biden’s pledge was in line with the best traditions of both parties. The statement pointed to the American Bar Association ratings of Biden’s confirmed judicial nominees and asked Wicker to give the nominee the same consideration he gave Barrett, the Mississippi Free Press reported. NBC News also covered the exchange.
What happened next
Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and the Senate confirmed her on April 7, 2022, by a vote of 53 to 47, with three Republicans voting in favor, The Associated Press reported. She became the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and took her seat when Breyer retired that summer.
