President Joe Biden is expected to officially announce the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer today, one day after news leaked that the 83-year-old would be stepping down from the nation's highest court this summer.
Wednesday, as the news rippled throughout the political world, Press Secretary Jen Psaki initially declined to comment, instead deferring to Breyer himself and the president. The White House has now announced a 12:30 p.m. event in the Roosevelt Room; both Biden and Breyer are expected to attend.Associate Justice Stephen Breyer poses for the official group photo at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on November 30, 2018.
Breyer’s departure, expected over the summer, won’t change the 6-3 conservative advantage on the court because his replacement will be nominated by Biden and almost certainly confirmed by a Senate where Democrats have the slimmest majority. It also makes conservative Justice Clarence Thomas the oldest member of the court at 73.Nine justices make up the Supreme Court, with one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Biden’s nominee "will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed."White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday amid reports that Justice Stephen Breyer will be retiring that President Joe Biden "certainly stands by" his prior commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
He is known for his elaborate, at times far-fetched, hypothetical questions to lawyers during arguments and he sometimes had the air of an absent-minded professor. In fact, he taught antitrust law at Harvard earlier in his professional career. And at the end of a trying term in June 2007 in which he found himself on the losing end of roughly two dozen 5-4 rulings, Breyer’s frustrations bubbled over as he summarized his dissent from a decision that invalidated public school integration plans.
His 87-9 high-court confirmation was the last with fewer than 10 dissenting votes. Breyer’s opinions were notable because they never contained footnotes. Breyer was warned off such a writing device by Arthur Goldberg, the Supreme Court justice for whom Breyer clerked as a young lawyer.
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