President Joe Biden will nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, US media reports.
By doing so, the president will honour his commitment to make a black woman his first nomination to the country’s top court.
If confirmed, she will be the first black woman to serve in the court’s 233-year history.
She would replace liberal justice Stephen Breyer when he retires at the end of the court’s term in June.
Ms Jackson is a federal appeals judge, who has worked as a public defender.
With the Senate divided 50-50 between the parties, Democrats have just enough votes to confirm President Biden’s choice if they all back her. Vice President Kamala Harris has the deciding vote.
Justice Breyer’s replacement would not shift the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority.
The Supreme Court plays a key role in American life and is often the final word on highly contentious laws, disputes between states and the federal government, and final appeals to stay executions.
Ms Jackson, 51, currently serves on the influential US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit. Three current supreme court justices previously served on that court.
The jurist has two degrees from Harvard University, which she attended as an undergraduate and as a law student, and once serves as editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Mr Biden first promised to nominate an African American woman to the top court two years ago while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a black woman on the Supreme Court, to make sure we, in fact, get every representation,” he said at the time. Last month, he called the nomination of a black woman “long overdue”.
Black women make up about 3% of the federal judiciary, according to data from the Federal Judicial Center, the court system’s research arm.
Upon Justice Breyer’s retirement, the White House said Mr Biden would announce his pick by 1 March.
Ms Jackson was born in Washington, DC but grew up in the Miami area.
At her 2021 confirmation to the appellate court, she credited a background of public service with her decision to work as a public defender. Her parents are both graduates of historically black colleges who began their careers as teachers, and her brother was a police officer who served in the military.
“Being in the public defenders’ office felt very much like the opportunity to help with my skills and talents,” she said at the time.
Ms Jackson, a liberal justice, has a familial connection to a Paul Ryan, former House Speaker and ex-Republican vice-presidential candidate.
At a 2013 hearing for her district court nomination, Mr Ryan, who is a a relative by marriage to Ms Jackson, introduced her to lawmakers.
“Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji’s intellect, for her character, for her integrity, it is unequivocal,” he said.
Ms Jackson’s husband is a surgeon and she has two children.
-BBC
