Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring, according to NBC News.
“Justice Stephen Breyer will step down from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term, according to people familiar with his thinking,” NBC News reported. “Breyer is one of the three remaining liberal justices, and his decision to retire after more than 27 years on the court allows President Joe Biden to appoint a successor who could serve for several decades and, in the short term, maintain the current 6-3 split between conservative and liberal justices.”
Justice Breyer — who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994 — had faced multiple calls to retire by progressive activists and Democratic Congress members in order to provide President Biden with a Supreme Court pick.
“Progressive group Demand Justice launched a new ‘Breyer Retire’ campaign Friday urging U.S. Supreme Court Stephen Breyer to ‘retire now’ from the high court, putting more pressure on the liberal-leaning justice to step down while Democrats narrowly have Senate control after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death resulted in President Donald Trump choosing her successor,” Forbes reported in April, 2021.
“We are now firmly in the window when past justices have announced their retirement, so it’s officially worrisome that Justice Breyer has not yet said that he will step down,” Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon said in a statement at the time. He called Breyer’s retirement “the only responsible choice.”
“Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones on Friday said Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer should retire this summer, becoming the first congressional member to publicly call for the 82-year-old justice to step down,” CNN reported that same month.
“There’s no question that Justice Breyer, for whom I have great respect, should retire at the end of this term,” Jones said when asked whether Breyer should retire before the end of Biden’s presidency.
