Corrected 11:50 a.m. | An opening on the Supreme Court nine months before the midterm elections promised to inject a new urgency into the battle for the Senate majority, with both parties rushing Wednesday to remind voters of the stakes of the upcoming confirmation battle.
An expected announcement from Justice Stephen G. Breyer would mark the fourth time in a row the Senate will face a Supreme Court vacancy in the final year before a federal election.
Unlike the blocked consideration of nominee Merrick B. Garland in 2016 and the confirmations of Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh in 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, President Joe Biden’s pick is unlikely to change the ideological makeup of the court since Breyer is the court’s senior liberal member.
