Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday that if Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer is planning to retire, “it should be sooner rather than later.”
“He makes his own decision about if he’s going to retire, but if he’s going to retire, it should be sooner rather than later if you are concerned about the court, because what happens in the U.S. Senate matters,” Ms. Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Justice Breyer, at 82 the oldest member of the high court’s liberal wing, has come under pressure from the left to step down and allow President Biden to fill his seat while Democrats control the Senate.
In an interview Thursday with CNN, Justice Breyer said he had not decided when he would retire, adding that his health and the court would be the primary considerations.
“When you look at the court, he has to be concerned about the make-up, and you have to be concerned about how you get a justice on the court with all the manipulations [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell has engaged in,” said Ms. Klobuchar. “So that would lead me to say, sooner rather than later.”
The court moved to a 6-3 conservative majority with the appointment of three justices by former President Donald Trump.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar refuses to speculate on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement, but says, “If he’s going to retire, it should be sooner rather than later” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/eVcA0pf4Fq pic.twitter.com/5lmQ6ziJul
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 18, 2021
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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