Political luck for Biden
US Constitutional Judge Breyer resigns early
01/26/2022, 7:57 p.m
In the USA, the Supreme Court sets the course with its decisions on particularly contentious issues. The selection process for the judges is politically fiercely contested. After three conservative newcomers, the Democrats will probably be allowed to play again.
According to US media reports, Stephen Breyer, left-liberal judge on the US Supreme Court, wants to retire early. As the US television channels NBC and CNN and the Washington Post reported, citing those around the 83-year-old, he will resign from the Supreme Court at the end of the current court year in June. Breyer’s resignation would allow US President Joe Biden to name a successor. During the election campaign, he had promised to nominate a black woman for the first time in US history if there was a vacancy.
The nine seats on the Supreme Court are granted for life and are therefore politically contested. Only in the event of death or early retirement does the US President have the right to nominate a candidate who must then be confirmed by the US Senate.
CNN reported that a public announcement could be expected as early as Thursday – together with Biden. His spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, simply said on Twitter that it was up to each Supreme Court justice to decide whether and when to retire and how to announce it. That also applies today.
Democrats fear another blockade
Currently, Biden’s Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate. However, there are fears that they could lose them in November’s midterm congressional elections. If Breyer then falls seriously ill or even dies between now and the next elections, the Democrats would no longer have a majority to choose a successor, despite the presidency, if the Republicans reject the candidate or candidates.
The conservative party had already done this in 2016. At that time, former President Barack Obama nominated today’s US Attorney General Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. However, the Republicans blocked the nomination process and promised Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, the opportunity to appoint three conservative judges for life during his term in office, namely Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barret, thereby influencing the balance of power in favor of the Republicans in the long term: At the moment, the rule applies six of the nine judges as conservative.
With its decisions on particularly controversial issues such as abortion, immigration or same-sex marriages, the US Supreme Court repeatedly sets the course for American society. The occupation is therefore a hard-fought political process.