Stephen Breyer Supreme Court Retirement: Report, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has retired, according to several media reports on Wednesday. The exact time of his retirement was not immediately clear. Both NBC and CNN have reported that Brayer will resign in June at the end of his term. The next term of the Supreme Court will begin on October 3.
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| Stephen Breyer Supreme Court Retirement: Report |
Breyer was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994. The 83-year-old is the oldest member of the High Court and a leading liberal judge. The Conservatives currently have a 6-3 majority on the bench.
Breyer's retirement will give President Biden his first opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court judge. (Biden presided over the confirmation of Breyer in 1994 as chairman of the Senate Justice.)
During the 2020 campaign, Biden promised to appoint the first black woman to the High Court when seats became available.
Katanga Brown Jackson, who appeared in the U.S. Court of Appeals last June, is widely recognized as one of Biden's top Supreme Court candidates. Judge Leondra Kruger is often cited as a candidate.
Biden told reporters before a meeting with White House executives that no official announcement had been made by Breyer.
"Let me tell you what he's trying to say, I'll talk about it later," the president said.
In a tweet, White House spokeswoman Jane Sackie said, "Whether a Supreme Court judge retires, when and how he wants to announce it is always a decision and it is still true today. Details or information."
[Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kluger considered a strong alternative to Brayer]
In a statement, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said "whatever the Biden candidate is, he was immediately heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee and reviewed and confirmed by the US Senate at all intentional motions."
A simple majority is needed to see Supreme Court candidates in the Senate. The Senate is currently divided between the two parties at 50:50. (Vice President Kamala Harris can vote on the tiebreaker.)
Schumer also praised Breyer for calling him a "model law scholar."
"He embodied the highest virtues and ideals of American justice: wisdom, discernment, fairness, humility, restraint," Schumer said. "Her work as a quasi-judge and her decision was crucial to the biggest issues of our time, such as the right to vote, the environment, women's reproductive freedom, and the recent Affordable Care Act. The United States owes a debt of gratitude to Judge Brayer.
For months, progressive activists have called for Breyer to retire, and Democrats have retained both the White House and the Senate. That could change after the mid-November election.
"The stewards of our system must put the interests of the institution of their choice first and the countries they love more than their own interests," said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of law school at the University of California, Berkeley. I wrote in the Washington Post Editorial in May. "Everyone must understand that even good justice is not immutable, and the risks of remaining are greater than imaginary."
In 2020, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 87, died, and former President Donald Trump appointed his successor, Deputy Judge Amy Connie Barrett, to move the court further to the right.
At an event in Washington, D.C. in October, Breyer acknowledged the pressure on him to retire and said he would decide "when is the right time."
"I hope I don't die in the Supreme Court," he added.
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