Breyer announces retirement, opens up new battle over Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who had joined landmark decisions from the court in support of LGBTQ rights, announced January 26 that he'd retire, opening up a new battle over the judiciary and the potential for President Joe Biden to add his first nominee to the high court.
First reported by NBC News, the retirement of Breyer, appointed by former President Bill Clinton and confirmed in 1994, fulfills a wish among progressives for him to step down to ensure a replacement would be named with Biden in the White House and Democrats in control of the U.S.
Senate. Biden has pledged to nominate a Black woman to the court, which would be a first. Speculation has centered on California Supreme Court Justice Leondra R.
Kruger and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer Supreme Court clerk who in June was confirmed to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
