Biden Has No Plans to Match Trump’s Release of Court Picks

(Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will refrain from releasing a list of potential Supreme Court picks, according to a campaign official, resisting calls to match President Donald Trump’s public roster of potential nominees.

Biden had come under pressure after the death Friday of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to publish a list of people he might pick for the high court vacancy given the opportunity. The former vice president has only committed to nominating a Black woman to the court if he faced a vacancy as president.

Trump said Saturday he expects to nominate a replacement for Ginsburg next week and it would likely be a woman. He complimented two appeals court judges said to be on his short list, Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa.

Biden said late Friday that whoever wins the Nov. 3 election should be the one to fill the vacancy left by Ginsburg, while most Republicans have insisted the decision is up to Trump.

Trump had released an updated list of potential nominees last week, even before Ginsburg’s death.

Just before Ginsburg’s death was announced, Biden was asked about naming potential cabinet officials or justices before the election.

“We’re going through that now with the transition committee of the people who I might choose,” Biden told reporters after a campaign stop in Duluth, Minnesota, on Friday. “There’s a lot of incredibly qualified people. What I want to make sure I do is keep the commitment that my government, assuming I win, my cabinet and the White House looks like the country.”

When pressed about whether he would release any names before the election, Biden said, “No, I don’t think so.”

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