Amid speculation that Biden will nominate Harris to SCOTUS, Psaki says Biden-Harris will run in 2024

Speculation swirled in Washington, D.C. that Vice President Kamala Harris is on President Joe Biden's shortlist for Supreme Court nominees after news broke of Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that Biden plans on running for reelection with Harris as his partner.

Both NBC's Peter Alexander and Fox News' Peter Doocy asked Psaki if Biden would consider nominating Harris as a Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Breyer, who is rumored to retire at the end of this court's term.

Psaki responded to Alexander: "I will not speak to any preparations, and as we stated earlier and you heard the president say, this, a long history of Supreme Court justices determining when they may retire and if they retire and announcing that, and we are going to keep that remaining the case today."

Doocy followed up shortly thereafter. "When you're asked about the vice president being selected as a Supreme Court nominee, he said he will not speak to any considerations. Does that mean she is being considered?" the Fox White House correspondent asked.

"Again Peter, I'm not going to speak to the reports of a Supreme Court justice retirement that has not been announced," she responded.

Doocy then phrased the question differently and asked if "someone who was an attorney general of a large state and who served with many key Senate votes [could] be an attractive candidate to the president for the Supreme Court seat?"

Psaki responded: "The president has every intention as he's had before of running for reelection and running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner. But again I will reiterate that I have nothing more to offer in terms of specifics or information on the reports this morning."

Some news outlets have floated the possibility of Harris running as the nominee, including the liberal Huffington Post and conservative outlets The Washington Times and Breitbart. Even in November, Breitbart floated the idea and reported that if Harris were nominated, she would be the first justice ever to have failed the Bar exam.

Fox News' Harris Faulkner discussed the possibility of Harris' nomination with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. 

"I think she's at least on the shortlist," McEnany said. "I think it's a theory that could be credible."

Politico completely denied the rumors on Wednesday, calling it "fan fiction" and one of the "wildest theories" for Biden's pick.

More than half of the country disapproves of Harris' job performance, while 43.6% approve, FiveThirtyEight reports. Rumors of an unhealthy work environment and bullying have plagued the vice president for months now. Nominating her for the Supreme Court would open up the VP ticket for a more popular candidate.

However, Harris currently serves as a tie-breaking vote in the Senate. If she were appointed to the Supreme Court, she would need to resign. Republicans could then block Biden's vice presidential nominee without Harris to break the tie.