Justice Stephen Breyer is 82 years old.
The wins of Ossoff and Warnock now give the Democrats control of the Senate for the first time in 10 years. It is fifty-fifty. There is a chance the the Rethugs can take it back in 2022. Given that, I think that once the new Senators are sworn in along with Harris as the VP and President of the Senate, and Schumer becomes Majority leader, that Breyer should announce his retirement. Let Biden fill his seat with someone in their 40s who could hold that seat for another 30 years.
Ginsburg, may she rest in peace, waited too long to retire and when Trump came in she tried to hold on to the seat as long as she could. Breyer should not make that same mistake.
I would have liked to have seen Breyer retire and be replaced by Garland but he is 68 years old and that would be a problem. I just would have loved sticking it to Minority Leader McConnell (I love saying that) and seen true Justice in finally getting Garland the seat that was stolen from him.
Adam Schiff would be a great Justice. Probably the biggest payback would be if Joe offered Barack Obama that seat and Obama took it which he probably won’t. (Maybe Michelle?) There is a precedent in that Taft became a Supreme Court Justice after being President.
Another intriguing candidate is former Solicitor General Neal Katyal. He has argued many cases in front of the court and is only 50 years old. He is of Indian descent and would be the first person of that demographic to serve on the Court.
If Biden wants to nominate a Black Woman to the court there is Wilhelmina Wright, age 57, who was appointed by Obama to the District Court in Minnesota in 2016. Her nomination even made it through the McConnel Senate where she was confirmed by a vote of 58 to 36 which included support of several Republicans.
Remember under the new rules it only takes 51 votes to get confirmed with Harris being the tie breaker. If Breyer retires, the next oldest liberal on the court is Sotamayor who is 66. She probably has another 10 to 15 years but if she has any thoughts of retiring before then or any medical issues she should also think about retiring in the next two years.
We need to begin the process of rebuilding the Courts that McConnell has stacked. Not just at the Supreme level but at all Federal District courts. Joe should ask any Justices over 70 to consider retiring and begin the process of replacing them while the Democrats control the process.