Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday praised 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Eunice Lee, who is rumored to be on President Biden’s shortlist of potential nominees to the Supreme Court.
“She’s certainly our preferred candidate,” Schumer told reporters at his weekly press conference. “And on the White House, we’ve talked to the president about SCOTUS. He’s giving a very careful review of a good number of candidates and we have faith that he will choose a very good, strong candidate.”
A spokesman for Schumer, however, immediately walked back the statement and said that the Democratic leader misheard the question.
“Leader Schumer does not have a preferred candidate for the Supreme Court. Sen. Schumer mistakenly thought the question was on Eunice Lee’s nomination for the Second Circuit which he strongly supported. He has complete faith that President Biden will choose a very capable and qualified candidate,” Schumer spokesman Alex Nguyen said in a statement emailed to reporters, clarifying the comments.
Schumer has championed Lee in the past. He recommended her to Biden to succeed Judge Robert Katzman on the 2nd Circuit.
She previously served as an assistant professor at New York University’s School of Law. She also worked at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City from 1998 to 2019.
Schumer introduced Lee before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year after Biden nominated her to serve on the 2nd Circuit, which covers New York, Connecticut and Vermont.
“I recommended her to President Biden, and not only because she was outstanding, but because we want to bring a great diversity of experience” to the appellate court, he told the Judiciary Committee, which later discharged her nomination by a vote of 11-10.
The full Senate confirmed her to the bench by a party-line vote of 50-47 on Aug. 7.
Moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted against her nomination despite voting for Biden’s nominees to the D.C. Circuit and 7th Circuit.