Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday that the Supreme Court‘s recent decision allowing a Texas law banning most abortions to stand “cries out” for Justice Stephen G. Breyer to consider retiring “sooner rather than later.”
“If he is seriously considering retirement — and he has said he would do it based on not only his own health, but also the future of the court — if this decision doesn’t cry out for that, I don’t know what does,” the Minnesota Democrat said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“That’s not going to change the results [of rulings] necessarily, but at least it doesn’t put it at 7-2,” Ms. Klobuchar said.
The focus on the 83-year-old justice’s future on the court intensified following the death of former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who opted against retiring when former President Barack Obama and Democrats controlled Washington.
The decision ultimately set the stage for former President Donald Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett for the court following Ginburg’s death last year.
The Supreme Court now has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Justice Breyer is the oldest of the liberal justices on the court.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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