Politics- Jones will serve as a guide for President Biden's eventual
Supreme Court nominee, per the NYT. - The Alabama Democrat will help the nominee prepare for meetings with lawmakers and the hearings.
Former Sen.
Jones, an Alabama Democrat who served in the upper chamber from 2018 to 2021 and was a leading candidate to serve as US attorney general, will act as a "sherpa" for the president's nominee.
During the 2020 presidential election, Biden pledged to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, a commitment he said he would uphold after Justice
While Biden has been firm in his desire to see a Black woman on the court, a few Republicans have raised questions about the criteria of such a nomination — including Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who said that the nominee would be a "beneficiary" of affirmative action, and Ted Cruz of Texas, who contended that the president's pledge was "offensive."
However, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said during a Sunday interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" that Biden nominating a qualified Black female jurist to the Supreme Court would make it "look more like America."
In the sherpa role, Jones – who has known Biden for years and pushed for bipartisan consensus while representing Alabama in the upper chamber — will likely be aiding the nominee as she meets with individual senators and prepares for the televised hearings.
Former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire — who served in the body from 2011 to 2017 before narrowly losing her reelection bid to now-Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan — served as the sherpa for Neil Gorsuch in 2017.
And former GOP Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona — who served from 1995 to 2013 and for a brief period in late 2018 after the death of Sen. John McCain — helped Brett Kavanaugh during his rocky 2018 confirmation process, during which he was accused of sexual misconduct and assault; he has denied the allegations.