Following a report that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the court’s term, Democrats and liberal activists were quick to remind President Joe Biden of his campaign pledge to nominate a black woman to the high court for the first time in the nation’s history.
Liberal activists have pushed for Breyer, a longtime member of the court’s liberal-leaning flank, to retire in order to allow Biden to nominate a younger, liberal justice in response to the confirmation of three of President Donald Trump’s nominees to the court and its subsequent rightward shift.
As a candidate, Biden pledged his nominee, should he get to make one, would be a black woman, which helped secure a key endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, days before a crucial primary in the Palmetto State.
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Immediately following reports of Breyer’s retirement, Sen. Patty Murray, the chamber’s No. 3 Democrat, issued a statement pushing Biden to honor that pledge.
“I want to voice my support for President Biden in his pledge to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court,” Murray said, adding that no black woman has ever served as a justice, and Democrats should change that.
“Black women in America should be able to look at the highest court in the land and finally see themselves represented,” Murray said.
Murray added she is “ready to move as quickly as possible to consider and confirm a highly qualified nominee who will break barriers and make history as the first black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States.”
In a statement thanking Breyer for his service, Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also said Biden now “has the opportunity to nominate someone who will bring diversity, experience, and an evenhanded approach to the administration of justice.”
“I look forward to moving the president’s nominee expeditiously through the committee,” Durbin said.
The liberal group Demand Justice, which has pushed for expanding the court, celebrated Breyer’s retirement and pushed for Biden to fulfill his promise to nominate a black woman to the court.
Brian Fallon, the group’s executive director, said in a statement, “It is a relief that President Biden will get the opportunity to choose the next justice on the Supreme Court while the Senate is in Democratic hands.”
Fallon said Breyer’s “retirement is coming not a moment too soon, but now we must make sure our party remains united in support of confirming his successor.”
“Confirming Justice Breyer’s successor will not break the Republican chokehold on the Supreme Court, and it is not a substitute for structural reform, but it will break an important barrier and bring needed diversity to the court,” Fallon said. “President Biden has many highly qualified candidates to consider, but we hope he takes this opportunity to not only make good on his commitment to increase the court’s racial diversity, but also his vision for professional diversity.”
Fallon said whoever the president chooses, “we know that the bad-faith attacks are coming from Republicans.”
“We are prepared to counter the tired attacks Republicans always trot out against women of color who have stood up for equal justice,” he said. “We are confident Biden’s nominee will be installed before the October term.”
Conservative groups moved to paint Breyer as forced out of his role by liberal activists.
Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino said in a statement that “the Left bullied Justice Breyer into retirement and now it will demand a justice who rubber stamps its liberal political agenda.”
“And that’s what the Democrats will give them, because they’re beholden to the dark money supporters who helped elect them,” Severino said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who served as Judiciary Committee chairman during a previous Republican majority, acknowledged in a statement that Republicans lack the votes to block a Biden nominee.
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“If all Democrats hang together — which I expect they will — they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support,” Graham said. “Elections have consequences, and that is most evident when it comes to fulfilling vacancies on the Supreme Court.”
