Biden nears Supreme Court pick after interviews with short-list candidates

Officials say he remains on track to name a nominee by the end of the month.

President Joe Biden is zeroing in on his first pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, completing interviews with candidates on his short list and moving toward a final decision this week, a person familiar with the process confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday.

Biden said this month he was considering "about four" names -- all Black women -- to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, studying their writings, legal experience and personal backgrounds.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs, 55, is the only person publicly confirmed by the White House as under formal consideration and is endorsed by South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, an influential Biden ally. U.S. Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45, are also getting a close look, sources have told ABC News.

Jackson, a former Breyer clerk who previously met one-on-one with Biden at the White House ahead of her appeals court nomination, is widely considered the front-runner. A spokesman said the president has been impressed with her "experience in roles at all levels of the justice system, her character and her legal brilliance."