Justice Stephen Breyer retiring; Biden vows to nominate Black woman to Supreme Court
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By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer submitted a letter Thursday to the White House announcing his intent to retire for the nation’s highest court.
Breyer appeared Thursday afternoon alongside President Joe Biden at the White House, where the president praised the liberal justice as “a model public servant at a time of great division in this country.” Biden thanked Breyer for his service and vowed to nominate as his successor the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Update 12:50 p.m. EST Jan. 27: Biden said the process to choose Breyer’s successor will be “rigorous” and that he’s committed to selecting “a nominee worthy of Justice Breyer’s legacy of excellence and decency.”
“While I have been studying candidates backgrounds in writing, I have made no decision except one: The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
During the 2020 race for the White House, Biden pledged to nominate a Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, if given the opportunity.
“I will keep that commitment,” Biden said Thursday. “It’s long overdue, in my view.”
The president said he plans to name a nominee before the end of February.
Update 12:40 p.m. EST Jan. 27: Biden called Thursday ‘sort of a bittersweet day for me” while delivering remarks about Breyer’s decision to retire after nearly 28 years on the Supreme Court.
“Justice Breyer and I go back a long way, all the way back to the mid-70s when he first came onto the judiciary committee, but that’s another story,” the president said. “I’m here today to express the nation’s gratitude to Justice Stephen Breyer for his remarkable career in public service and his clear-eyed commitment to making our country’s laws work for its people.”
Breyer submitted a letter to the White House on Thursday confirming reports that he plans to retire in the summer, giving Biden his first chance to appoint someone to the Supreme Court.
Update 12:30 p.m. EST Jan. 27: In a letter addressed to the president shared Thursday by the Supreme Court, Breyer said he plans to retire “when the court rises for the summer recess this year ... assuming that by then my successor has been nominated and confirmed.”
“I enormously appreciate the privilege of serving as part of the federal judicial system -- nearly 14 years as a court of appeals judge and nearly 28 years as a member of the Supreme Court,” the 83-year-old wrote. “My relations with each of my colleagues have been warm and friendly. Throughout, I have been aware of the great honor of participating as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the rule of law.”
Original report: The president’s remarks will come one day after reports surfaced that Breyer, who has served on the Supreme Court since being appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, planned to announce his retirement. White House officials declined to confirm the reports on Wednesday, deferring to Breyer.
The 83-year-old’s retirement will give Biden his first chance to name a justice to the nation’s highest court. During the race for the White House in 2020, Biden said he planned to nominate a Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court if he was given the opportunity. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday that the president “certainly stands by that.”
Before serving on the Supreme Court, Breyer served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit after being appointed to the court in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. He served as chief justice of the court from 1990 to 1994.
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years Here are some memorable photos of Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer through the years. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 1994: U.S. President Bill Clinton and his Supreme Court nominee Stephen Breyer walk to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Monday, May 16, 1994, where the president officially introduced Breyer to the nation. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2003: U.S. Supreme Court Justices (from left, seated) Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, (from left, standing) Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and Stephen G. Breyer pose for pictures at the U.S. Supreme Court on December 5, 2003, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2005: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (right) and Henrietta Fore, director of the U.S. Mint, participate in a ceremony to unveil the Chief Justice John Marshall Silver Dollar on May 4, 2005, at the Supreme Court Upper Great Hall in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2009: Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (left) talks with Justice Stephen Breyer during the Sandra Day O'Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary's forum "Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era" at Georgetown University Law Center May 20, 2009, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2010: U.S. Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (left), Stephen Breyer, Vice President Joseph Biden and first lady Michelle Obama smile as President Barack Obama speaks during a reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month on May 27, 2010, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2011: Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer testifies during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 5, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2012: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer arrives for a lunch hosted in honor of Prime Minister David Cameron at the State Department on March 14, 2012, in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2013: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (left) speaks with British Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott, England's Prince Harry and Lady Wesmacott before a reception and dinner at the British Ambassador's residence on May 9, 2013, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2015: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Patrick Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Dr. Joanna Breyer attend the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate Opening Night Gala and Dedication on March 29, 2015, in Boston. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images for Edward M. Kennedy Institute)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2016: At center front, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and wife Jane Sullivan Roberts, trailed by Justice Stephen Breyer and wife Joanna Hare and in back row, Justice Clarence Thomas and wife Virginia Thomas, walk down the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at the end of the funeral for late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on February 20, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2017: Front row from left, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, back row from left, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch pose for a group portrait in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court on June 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2018: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer poses for the court's official portrait in the East Conference Room at the Supreme Court building November 30, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2020: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch (left) and Justice Stephen Breyer stand during a private ceremony for Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court on September 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2021: Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)