Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will announce his retirement at the White House event: live updates.
WASHINGTON The White House President Joe Biden will deliver remarks about his retirement from Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Thursday during an occasion held at the White House, which Breyer will also attend.
The retirement of Breyer, who is 79, will create a vacancy on the nine-member bench and further shift its ideological balance to the right.
Breyer was appointed to the Supreme Court by then-president Bill Clinton in 1994. His successor would be President Donald Trump’s second appointee to the court and could tip it even further to the right as it is down to eight members following the retirement of Anthony Kennedy last year.
Breyer’s retirement will set off the procedure of naming and confirming the successor; usually, the process lasts for months, but will likely result in an innovative nomination: Biden promised during his campaign for president to nominate a Black woman on the Supreme Court for the first time in American history.
Breyer has been considered one of the more liberal justices on the bench and has sided with liberals in key cases such as striking down a Texas abortion law in 2016 and upholding affirmative action policies at universities in 2003.
At the age of 83, Breyer is the second-most senior justice in the United States. His decision to retire was backed by liberals, who wanted to ensure that Biden’s nominee’s nomination would benefit from the benefits of a Senate controlled by Democrats.
Republicans might delay but not stop Biden’s Supreme Court pick if all Democrats agree with Biden’s Supreme Court nominee
Republicans could delay approval of Biden’s choice to succeed Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; however, they’ll not be able to stop it on their own when all Democrats agree to the nomination.
Under Senate rules, which GOP lawmakers modified a few times, just a single majority is enough to confirm a presidential nominee to the nation’s top court.
This means that the 50 Democrats may push through Biden’s selection as Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking 51st vote. This was acknowledged by South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on the nominee.
“If all Democrats hang together – which I expect they will – they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support,” the tweet was posted on Wednesday, shortly after Breyer’s retirement news broke.
