President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the team of advisors he is appointing to shepherd the nomination and confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice: Doug Jones, former U.S. Senator from Alabama; Minyon Moore, a Clinton administration alum and public affairs maven; and Ben Labolt, an Obama press team alum and communications strategist. They join the in-house team of advisers consulting with Biden, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Chief of Staff Ron Klain, White House counsel Dana Remus, and other members of the legislative affairs and counsel’s offices.

Jones had been on Biden’s short list for the job of attorney general. His term in the Senate, the first Democrat elected from Alabama in a quarter century, was preceded by a long record in civil rights, including as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. In that role, he prosecuted and won the convictions of two Ku Klux Klan members in the 1963 church bombing that killed four Black girls in Birmingham.

Jones will act as the nominee’s guide in the Senate, according to administration officials, introducing her to senators as she makes her round of job interviews, and help prepare her for the hearings. Jones’ Senate tenure was short, but he has been praised by Democrats and Republicans alike for developing good working relationships with colleagues, and frequently co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation.

“This is an individual who is well thought of on both sides of the aisle,” Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat told the NYT, speaking of his former colleague Jones. “He is somebody who understands the moment.” Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown added “Look at what he did with his life, look what he did on civil rights, look what he did as U.S. attorney, look what he did in the Senate. So those are all good reasons.”

Moore is a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a political consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. in the State and Local Affairs and Multicultural Strategies practices. She served as President Clinton’s Director of White House Political Affairs and Director the White House Office of Public Liaison, as well as having served as Chief Operating Officer of the Democratic National Committee. She also coauthored For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics with other political veterans Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, and Leah Daughtry.

Labolt served as White House spokesman for President Obama during the efforts to confirm Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. He also served as adviser to the Biden-Harris transition with the firm Bully Pulpit Interactive, where he is partner.

Last week, President Biden confirmed he would nominate a Black woman to the vacancy that will open when Justice Stephen Breyer retires at the end of this term. That nomination, he said, would be made by the end of February. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that the nominee will “will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed.”

One potential wrinkle in a fast confirmation is the Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s health. The New Mexico senator announced Wednesday that he had suffered a stroke last Thursday, but has a good prognosis for recovery. He could be back to work in as little as four to six weeks a senior aide to the senator says.

Biden is reportedly considering more than a dozen candidates for the position, from current federal and states  judges to professors and practicing attorneys. The Alliance for Justice has compiled profiles of 10 of these potential nominees.

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