SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer to Retire, Talk of Nomination Candidates Circulates

After rumors of his retirement had been circulating for a few days, Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer confirmed this in his January 27th retirement letter. Breyer, 83, is one of the liberal minority that currently makes up the Supreme Court. 

During his campaign in 2020, President Biden (at the urging of Representative Jim Clyburn, South Carolina, D) made a promise to Democrat voters to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. This appointment comes at a critical time during Biden’s administration, which, according to recent data from the Pew Research Center, has seen a bipartisan decline in approval rating. 

In a recent article from NPR, the following women were posited as “frontrunners” for the seat: 

• Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. circuit

• California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger  

• Judge J. Michelle Childs, U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina