Biden intends to conduct face-to-face interviews with Supreme Court contenders as soon as next week

By Jeff Zeleny and Kate Sullivan, CNN

President Joe Biden is planning to begin conducting face-to-face interviews with final contenders for the Supreme Court vacancy as soon as next week, aides say, after spending the weekend at Camp David studying a list of at least four candidates.

The President is making clear to his advisers that he wants to take a measure of the candidates in person, the aides told CNN, rather than speak with them virtually or by telephone.

The President intends to review biographical and vetting materials from DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs, an official tells CNN.

The name of a fourth leading contender could not be immediately learned, with officials stressing the President reserves the right to adjust the list at any time from a broader roster of contenders.

The goal is for the private meetings to start late next week, aides say, but the timing could shift depending on the President’s weekend progress, particularly with the intensifying crisis in Ukraine.

A White House official said a virtual interview remained possible — based on the schedules of the candidates, along with Covid-related concerns — but it is the President’s strong desire to sit down with at least some of the finalists.

Biden said Thursday he had done a “deep dive” on four potential candidates to succeed Breyer but declined to name any of the prospective nominees. The President has said he plans to nominate a Black woman, which would be a historic first for the nation’s high court.

The President met with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will handle the nominee’s confirmation, on Thursday to discuss who he should choose. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois told reporters after the meeting that he and his Democratic colleagues had shared with the President their own Supreme Court nominee recommendations, and that their message to Biden was that they trust him.

White House officials have begun reaching out to potential candidates to gather more information about their records, and the FBI has contacted friends and former colleagues of potential nominees as part of the vetting process.

Biden has spent several evenings in the residence at the White House reviewing binders related to past cases of the potential picks, and daily strategy meetings are underway inside the West Wing.

The President recently told NBC he remained optimistic about garnering the support of Senate Republicans for his nominee, saying he’s “not looking to make an ideological choice here.”

“I’m looking for someone to replace Judge Breyer with the same kind of capacity Judge Breyer had, with an open mind, who understands the Constitution, interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the Constitution,” Biden said.

The President told NBC he believed the nominees on the short list he has been reviewing are “incredibly well-qualified.”

This story has been updated with additional background information.

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CNN’s Maegan Vazquez and Sam Fossum contributed to this report.