United States President Joe Biden is set to announce Judge Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson as his Supreme Court nominee on Friday.

Mr Biden had pledged to announce his nominee by the end of February to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. The U.S. President had reportedly interviewed three potential replacements for Mr Breyer, including Michelle Childs and Leondra Kruger. 

Mrs Jackson has been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Mr Biden had said he would tap an African American woman to the Supreme Court should he be presented with the opportunity during his tenure.

“The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity,” Mr Biden said in January. “And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It’s long overdue, in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment.”

Mr Breyer announced his retirement after 28 years. Mr Biden’s party loyalists at the Senate promised to confirm his choice forthwith.

Mrs Jackson would be the first African American woman to take a seat on the top court, and also Mr Biden’s first nominee as president. The nomination, however, would not tilt the ideological balance of the Supreme Court, which still favours American conservatives.