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Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, one of nine members of the Supreme Court is scheduled to retire at the conclusion of the current judicial term in July, according to CNBC.
Breyer’s retirement would give President Joe Biden the opportunity to nominate a liberal justice to the Supreme Court, where conservatives currently hold a majority.
White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Twitter that the government has no information about Breyer’s plans.
At 83, Breyer is the oldest member of the Supreme Court, a post he reached in 1994 after being nominated by then-Democratic President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and quickly became one of the Court’s progressive voices.
Known for his incisive questions during oral arguments, Breyer always defended that the Constitution must be interpreted within the context of each era, which on some occasions earned him clashes with more conservative justices such as Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016.
For months now, progressive groups like Demand Justice have called for Breyer to retire so that Biden can nominate a replacement by taking advantage of the fact that the Democratic Party dominates the Senate, on which the confirmation of Supreme Court justices depends.
Last year, members of Demand Justice rode a truck through the streets surrounding the high court building with a large sign that read, “Breyer retire. It’s time for a black woman on the Supreme Court.”
During the 2020 election campaign, Biden promised that if he had the opportunity he would nominate an African-American woman to the highest court. Now there is speculation that Kamala Harris could be the one to fill that position in order to bring a person with a better public image than the current vice president to the vice presidency.
