Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring from the Supreme Court, ending a 27-year career on the bench and clearing the way for Democrats to seat the liberal jurist’s replacement on the 6-3 conservative majority court.
Progressives greeted the news of Justice Stephen Breyer’s forthcoming retirement with a mixture of relief and frustration — relief at the likelihood his replacement would yield a younger and more diverse liberal bloc on the court, and frustration his departure would do little to impede the steady march of the court’s six-member conservative majority.
President Biden is set to have his first opportunity to appoint a judge to the Supreme Court after news broke that Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to announce his retirement in the coming days.
Biden vowed multiple times during the 2020 campaign to appoint the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and a number of Democrats quickly began applying pressure on the president to follow through on that pledge.
The opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice is rare for presidents and can be a legacy-defining decision. Here’s a look at some of the names Biden is likely to consider nominating as Breyer’s replacement.
