Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this term, giving President Joe Biden his first opportunity to fill a seat on the nation’s top court, according to multiple published reports.
Breyer, 83, has served nearly three decades on the bench and has cultivated a reputation for pragmatism, optimism, and cooperation with both political parties. He was nominated by former President Bill Clinton in 1994 and has been a consistent liberal vote since.
Breyer will formally announce his retirement with President Biden on Thursday, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer reported.
“That could come as early as tomorrow over at the White House,” Blitzer said.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Leondra Kruger, a justice on the California Supreme Court, are widely seen as the front-runners to replace Breyer.
Breyer is expected to step down at the end of the court’s current term, NBC reported, citing people familiar with the decision.
It has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire, and how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today. We have no additional details or information to share from @WhiteHouse
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 26, 2022
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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