As the high court’s top liberal, Justice Stephen Breyer says he hasn’t made any decision about retiring from the Supreme Court anytime soon.
In an interview that will likely raise anxiety for the Democrats, Breyer told CNN that his own health would be the primary factor in his decision.
“Primarily, of course, health,” said Breyer, 82. “Second, the court.”
The new interview effectively tosses cold water on hopes that Breyer might retire early in President Biden’s term to allow a younger liberal justice to be approved.
Breyer said he is feeling fine and answered flatly “no” when asked if he has decided about any timeframe for retirement.
The 26-year veteran justice said he is happier than ever with his role on the court. Since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Breyer is the de facto leader of the court’s outnumbered liberal wing.
“(The role) has made a difference to me,” Breyer said near his home in rural New Hampshire. “It is not a fight. It is not sarcasm. It is deliberation.”
Some Supreme-watchers had thought Breyer might announce his retirement at the end of the top court’s session last week, a milestone that other justices have used to step down.
Liberals hope he retires soon so Biden can use his control of the evenly divided Senate to install a liberal replacement on the court, which conservatives already control by a dominant 6-3 margin.
Ginsburg refused similar entreaties to step down early in former President Barack Obama’s term. She died in 2020, allowing former President Trump to name her replacement.
If Breyer waits till after the midterm elections, the Senate could fall back into the hands of Republicans. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear that he would consider blocking a replacement for Breyer until after the 2024 presidential election.
That strong-arm strategy worked like a charm for Republicans after the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016 when McConnell blocked any consideration of a replacement until after Trump’s surprise win.
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Biden and the Democrats are desperate to replace Breyer before they lose the Senate and House in 2022, with a youthful socialist snake in the grass for 40 more years of Judicial tergiversator tyranny.
“Breyer told CNN that his own health would be the primary factor in his decision.”,,,,,,is just begging for a Scalia ending where there are more questions whether his death is genuine and natural, or another Arkansas dirt bath like Epstein. I’m sure Caligula never admitted he smothered Tiberius either, whereas Brutus could not explain away the blood on his hands. These Democrat days of delirium are more entertaining than fiction.No matter how these deniers of truth cling to their imagined earthly power and significance the grim reaper always gets the last word to balance the scales of their injustice.
You assume they WILL lose it.. WITH the sheer weight of their fraud machine out there, i am NOT SO CERTAIN WE CAN win it back.
SCOTUS is a joke! They are gutless. What Scotus needs is all justices to be in the mold of Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
IF i had my way they would have a 10 year term and that’s it, AND WE THE PEOPLE with a 75% or more majority, Could vote their butts off, for making TOO DAMN MANY STUPID decisions.
Justice Breyer can stay as long as he wants, fine with me! Democrats keep trying to manipulate the Court but have come up short. They altered procedures so they would have an easier time approving justices but it ended up thye were used by Republicans and suddenly they cried ‘unfair’. They want a rubber stamp for leftist policies but now have a rubber eraser that is chipping away!
It’s not his health that is the number one reason for him not to retire, it’s power!
It’s comical how ignorant even high profile Dems are. They don’t make their own decisions.
The Dem Party politburo does that for them & if they don’t do what they are told they are publicly persecuted by the Pravda West media, silenced & censored by big tech Corp globalists, spied on & accused, bankrupted or jailed for manufactured crimes by govt Intel &’DOJ & other corrupt govt bureaucrats bought & paid for by a Dem Party that will not hesitate to cost them their taxpayer paid livelihoods, book & TV deals & most importantly their ability to hobnob with powerful people who laugh at & mock.them behind their back as being spineless but useful toadies to be cast aside like trash when no longer needed or, GASP, if they dare diverge even an Obama scintilla from Dem Party dictates.
So, Mr Breyer, both you & we know you will be retiring when the Dem Party masters tell you to.
Won’t be long since Garland is salivating to get on SC & do the bidding of the racist, globalist, violent, tyrannical & anti constitutional anti American Marxist Dem Party, ala Roland Freisler of the Nazi People’s Court fame.
Now say your ten HAIL bidens.. OR else.