Biden has chosen his Supreme Court nominee, sources say

President Joe Biden has decided on his Supreme Court nominee and will make the official announcement no later than Monday, according to sources close to the matter.

Biden pledged to reveal his nominee by the end of February, but two sources close to the process told CBS News that he made his decision on Thursday night and could make the announcement as early as Friday.

The search has been whittled down to three candidates to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, with the finalists including Ketanji Brown Jackson, Michelle Childs and Leondra Kruger.

Jackson is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; Leondra Kruger sits on the California Supreme Court; and J. Michelle Childs is a federal district court judge from Columbia, South Carolina.

Coinciding with Biden’s decision, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sparked theories that Jackson would be Biden’s pick. 

It came after the court broke from its usual procedure by issuing an opinion on a Thursday as opposed to its typical schedule of releasing opinions on Tuesday and Friday.

Jackson was reportedly in the majority in a 2-1 ruling case and would most likely have recused herself if the case came down after her nomination, which would divide the panel.

Legal experts told CNN that the theory stems from a similar scenario that played out when now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh was nominated.

“Part of why this sets off alarm bells is because we saw a similar scene play out in July 2018 with then-D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Steve Vladeck, CNN’s Supreme Court analyst and a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, told the news outlet.

“The D.C. Circuit handed down a 2-1 ruling on a Monday – a day on which it does not usually hand down decisions – in a case in which Kavanaugh was in the majority. Had the case come down after his nomination was announced a few hours later, he presumably would have recused, and the panel would have divided 1-1.”

“It’s not hard to imagine that the same calculus explains why this 2-1 decision with Judge Jackson in the majority came out today – another day on which the court does not usually issue non-emergency rulings,’ he concluded.

Thursday’s case was an unargued ruling in an emergency matter, a DC Circuit court official told CNN, adding that the court always has the option to release opinions at any time and has done so multiple times over the years in emergency matters.

The case involved a dispute between a Connecticut power plant and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, CNN reported. Earlier this month, the DC Circuit intervened to halt an order from the FERC that would block the plant from selling power to consumers.

Thursday’s ruling was the court’s opinion explaining why they issued that emergency order and was written by Jackson and Circuit Judge Neomi Rao.