Justice Stephen Breyer is reportedly mad that it was leaked, because he wasn’t ready to announce his retirement till summer, but, now it’s out there
Following reports that liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this term, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Democrats would likely be able to confirm his replacement without any Republican support, noting that “elections have consequences.”
“Justice Breyer has always shown great respect for the institution and his colleagues, and I wish him well in the next phase of his life,” said Graham in a statement, adding that he appreciates Breyer’s service while describing him as “a scholar and a gentleman.”
President Joe Biden on the campaign trail pledged to nominate the first-ever Black woman to the nation’s highest court. Potential candidates for the job include DC Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California state Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina federal district judge J. Michelle Childs.
Graham noted that it’s possible for Biden’s nominee to be confirmed without the need for any Republican votes. Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tiebreaking vote, granting Senate Democrats narrow control of the evenly-divided upper chamber.
Well, yeah. Expect all 50 Democrats to cast a “yea” vote for whomever Brandon nominates, with Kamala casting the 51st vote. And, you might get some of the GOP squishes, like Collins and Murkowski, to flip. But, what if Biden nominates Kamala and she can’t cast that vote?
White House confirms that Biden will pick Black woman for Supreme Court seat
“The president has stated, and reiterated, his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that,” Psaki said, declining to give any further details. That woman, however, will not be Vice President Kamala Harris, despite some speculation that he would nominate her to the high court, thus paving the way to choose a new vice president ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
“The president has every intention, as he said before, of running for reelection, and running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner,” Psaki said during the briefing.
So, that’s not happening. I just have to wonder, how will that black woman picked feel over being picked solely for her skin color and sex, rather than her legal pedigree? Well, that’s her problem. Regardless of who he picks, it’s not going to change much. It’ll be switching out one leftist for another leftist. Axios analyzed the Justices, and Sotomayor is, unshockingly, the furthest to the left, at -3.959 (that’s from the middle, with Republican leaning in the + column). Breyer scores -1.901, with Kagan at -1.508. So, no difference.
The GOP probably won’t put up a big fight, there’s no point. It won’t be a circus like when a Republican nominates anyone. But, they should spend as much time as possible highlighting just how out of step the person is from the American public.
