Just last week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement. Immediately, Americans recalled President Biden’s campaign trail promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court and held him to it. Although his choice won’t be announced until late February, the media is already focusing on several key players: California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, D.C. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, and Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson chief among them. But there’s been mutterings of another option: VPOTUS Kamala Harris.
It’s never been done before—but it can be done. Law scholars and the Constitution concur that a sitting VP may be elevated to the bench, so long as they vacate the Vice Presidency. All a Supreme Court Justice needs is a nomination from the President and a simple majority from the Senate. There’s no mention of age, degree, citizenship, or even profession. In fact, past Justices have included self-taught lawyer James F. Byrnes and (at the time) unlicensed Robert H. Jackson.
Granted, most Supreme Court Justices are middle-aged, hold law degrees, and have storied careers in law prior to the bench. Even taking into account these de facto standards, Harris is more than qualified. Since graduating from UC Hastings College of the Law in 1989, she has risen from deputy district attorney to district attorney to state Attorney General to state Senator (serving on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee, among others) to Vice President of the United States.
And so, if Biden can legally make the nomination, and Harris can conceivably win confirmation, the only remaining question is why they should.
First and foremost, this is about depoliticizing and securing the future impartiality of the court. Should Democrats lose their slim Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections—and between gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the classic backlash against the sitting party, they are fully expected to—a GOP-led Senate is unlikely to confirm a liberal or even a centrist nominee. In four short years, Trump appointed three new Supreme Court Justices, the most of any president since the Reagan era, and in doing so moved the court solidly to the right, with six of the nine current justices leaning conservative. As each of his picks are in their fifties, they could easily serve twenty more years of their lifetime appointments. Breyer’s retirement is calculated to avoid an even more skewed court by letting Biden capitalize on the current moment and get his pick confirmed.
A Harris appointment would make the most out of the opportunity by putting a Black woman on the Supreme Court for the first time in history and giving the seat to a known quantity.
A Harris appointment would make the most out of the opportunity by putting a Black woman on the Supreme Court for the first time in history and giving the seat to a known quantity. After all, it’s common knowledge that not every President’s appointee will actually be favorable to their agenda. But with a clear partisan divide (and not in his favor) among the current lineup, Biden needs his pick to be patently liberal to have any hope of having a balanced court once more.
Beyond that, a Justice Harris would also open up a VP slot in the government, breathing new life and momentum into an administration that’s fallen from a 53% approval rating this time last year to a paltry 41.7% in the present day. Part of that is due to Biden’s less-than-stellar track record in addressing public priorities: economic recovery, healthcare reform, student loan forgiveness, and so on. But in making one of his earlier campaign promises a reality, he can begin to turn that all around, emboldening longtime supporters and potentially even winning back disillusioned ones.
Kamala Harris will undoubtedly play a large role in the coming days—if not as a nominee herself, then as a key figure in the appointment process. After all, this is her wheelhouse: she’s questioned SCOTUS nominees as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she has a strong familiarity with current committee members and their aides, and she has insider knowledge of what exactly the Biden administration is aiming to achieve before midterms. And whether she’s up for the job or evaluating others for it, she is the best-qualified person in this administration to know exactly what it takes.
Seth Jacobson is the founder and principal of JCI Worldwide, a Los Angeles-based communications and research firm. He spent several years in the Carter and Clinton administrations in positions focused on economic development, foreign policy, and media relations. He is a frequent lecturer on policy and public affairs at Pepperdine University and UCLA.
Justice Kamala Harris?
Seth Jacobson
Just last week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement. Immediately, Americans recalled President Biden’s campaign trail promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court and held him to it. Although his choice won’t be announced until late February, the media is already focusing on several key players: California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, D.C. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs, and Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson chief among them. But there’s been mutterings of another option: VPOTUS Kamala Harris.
It’s never been done before—but it can be done. Law scholars and the Constitution concur that a sitting VP may be elevated to the bench, so long as they vacate the Vice Presidency. All a Supreme Court Justice needs is a nomination from the President and a simple majority from the Senate. There’s no mention of age, degree, citizenship, or even profession. In fact, past Justices have included self-taught lawyer James F. Byrnes and (at the time) unlicensed Robert H. Jackson.
Granted, most Supreme Court Justices are middle-aged, hold law degrees, and have storied careers in law prior to the bench. Even taking into account these de facto standards, Harris is more than qualified. Since graduating from UC Hastings College of the Law in 1989, she has risen from deputy district attorney to district attorney to state Attorney General to state Senator (serving on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee, among others) to Vice President of the United States.
And so, if Biden can legally make the nomination, and Harris can conceivably win confirmation, the only remaining question is why they should.
First and foremost, this is about depoliticizing and securing the future impartiality of the court. Should Democrats lose their slim Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections—and between gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the classic backlash against the sitting party, they are fully expected to—a GOP-led Senate is unlikely to confirm a liberal or even a centrist nominee. In four short years, Trump appointed three new Supreme Court Justices, the most of any president since the Reagan era, and in doing so moved the court solidly to the right, with six of the nine current justices leaning conservative. As each of his picks are in their fifties, they could easily serve twenty more years of their lifetime appointments. Breyer’s retirement is calculated to avoid an even more skewed court by letting Biden capitalize on the current moment and get his pick confirmed.
A Harris appointment would make the most out of the opportunity by putting a Black woman on the Supreme Court for the first time in history and giving the seat to a known quantity. After all, it’s common knowledge that not every President’s appointee will actually be favorable to their agenda. But with a clear partisan divide (and not in his favor) among the current lineup, Biden needs his pick to be patently liberal to have any hope of having a balanced court once more.
Beyond that, a Justice Harris would also open up a VP slot in the government, breathing new life and momentum into an administration that’s fallen from a 53% approval rating this time last year to a paltry 41.7% in the present day. Part of that is due to Biden’s less-than-stellar track record in addressing public priorities: economic recovery, healthcare reform, student loan forgiveness, and so on. But in making one of his earlier campaign promises a reality, he can begin to turn that all around, emboldening longtime supporters and potentially even winning back disillusioned ones.
Kamala Harris will undoubtedly play a large role in the coming days—if not as a nominee herself, then as a key figure in the appointment process. After all, this is her wheelhouse: she’s questioned SCOTUS nominees as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she has a strong familiarity with current committee members and their aides, and she has insider knowledge of what exactly the Biden administration is aiming to achieve before midterms. And whether she’s up for the job or evaluating others for it, she is the best-qualified person in this administration to know exactly what it takes.
Seth Jacobson is the founder and principal of JCI Worldwide, a Los Angeles-based communications and research firm. He spent several years in the Carter and Clinton administrations in positions focused on economic development, foreign policy, and media relations. He is a frequent lecturer on policy and public affairs at Pepperdine University and UCLA.
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
Bridging Horizons: Mayan Eden’s Quest for Middle Eastern Peace
Reconsidering Trump’s Gaza Plan: A Call to My Arab-American Brothers and Sisters
The Consequence of Saying Too Many No’s
A Super Bowl Audience of 125 Million Will Hear About Antisemitism. Or Not.
Tikkun Olam: Restoring Palisades School Libraries, One Book at a Time
Woman Fatally Shot in Encino; Husband Allegedly Responsible
Culture
Celebrate Bagel and Lox Day on February 9
Capturing Israeli Jazz: Raphael Perez’s Tribute to Israeli Musicians
Book ‘52 Secrets’ is a Playbook for Those Who Operate Under Pressure
Rick Nahmias: Food Forward, Sharing Abundance and Stuffed Cabbage
Following in Miriam’s Footsteps
Miriam and the other righteous women teach us what hope is about.
Armed and Divided – Shabbat Thought – Torah Portion Beshalach 2025 (revised from previous versions)
Thirst – A poem for Parsha Beshalach
Beware the fake Moses.
A Bisl Torah — Take the Step
An important reminder to each one of us is to have faith in God that our lives will change. And God has faith in us to begin the process.
A Moment in Time: “Blend In or Stand Out?
Hollywood
Spielberg Says Antisemitism Is “No Longer Lurking, But Standing Proud” Like 1930s Germany
Young Actress Juju Brener on Her “Hocus Pocus 2” Role
Behind the Scenes of “Jeopardy!” with Mayim Bialik
Podcasts
Rick Nahmias: Food Forward, Sharing Abundance and Stuffed Cabbage
Elizabeth Mehditach: Grocery Shopping, Eating Whole Foods and Quinoa Salad
More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.