By Dave Andrusko
It’s official. Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the current term—June or July—assuming his successor “has been nominated and confirmed,” Mr. Breyer wrote in the letter to the President that formally announced his retirement.
President Biden said he would announce a successor by the end of February. It will be his first opportunity to name someone to the nation’s highest court. “In the days ahead, Mr. Biden will be free to make good on the promise he made as a presidential candidate in 2020,” the Washington Post wrote. “Fighting for the Democratic nomination, he pledged to be the first president to select a Black woman for a life appointment to the court.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated Breyer whom, he said, “commands respect and affection across the legal world, including from those who disagree with his judicial philosophy and conclusions in cases.” He also said
“Looking ahead — the American people elected a Senate that is evenly split at 50-50. To the degree that President Biden received a mandate, it was to govern from the middle, steward our institutions, and unite America.
“The President must not outsource this important decision to the radical left. The American people deserve a nominee with demonstrated reverence for the written text of our laws and our Constitution.”