US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The oldest member of the US Supreme Court is reportedly set to retire, giving President Joe Biden a chance to appoint a successor who could service for decades.
Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, will retire at the end of the court’s current term that runs until the end of June, NBC News and CNN reported on Wednesday.
The White House declined to comment further on the news, saying it had “no additional details or information to share”.
It has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire, and how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today. We have no additional details or information to share from @WhiteHouse
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 26, 2022
Justice Breyer has written important rulings upholding abortion rights and healthcare access, helped advance LGBT rights and questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty.
But he often found himself in dissent on a court that moved to the right during Donald Trump’s presidency and currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Justice Breyer was appointed to the Supreme Court by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1994.
Only conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, one of two black men ever on the high court, has served longer among the current justices, joining it in 1991.
During the 2020 presidential election campaign, Mr Biden pledged to nominate a black woman to fill any Supreme Court vacancy - which would be a historic first.
Mr Biden’s fellow Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the US Senate, which under the US Constitution gets to confirm Supreme Court nominees.
Potential Biden nominees include Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer law clerk who was confirmed by the Senate last June to serve on an influential US appellate court, and Leondra Kruger, who serves on the California Supreme Court.
