Biden hails Breyer, retiring liberal justice, as ‘model public servant’

President Biden on Thursday formally announced the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, hailing the liberal justice as a “model public servant,” whose opinions benefited the American people.

“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 nation’s laws work for its people,” Mr. Biden said.

The president ticked off a litany of landmark opinions on topics including voting rights, abortion and environmental law.

“His opinions are practical, sensible and nuanced,” Mr. Biden said. “It reflects his belief that the job of a judge is not to lay down a rule, but to get it right.”

Justice Breyer joined the president at a White House event to mark his retirement, which will start at the end of the Supreme Court’s term later this year. The most senior member of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing, Justice Breyer, 83, served on the bench for 27 years.

In his remarks, Justice Breyer marveled over the U.S. legal system and the Supreme Court’s power to resolve legal disputes.

“This is a complicated country,” he said. “It’s kind of a miracle when you sit there and see all those people in front of you and yet they’ve decided to settle their major differences under law.”

Justice Breyer’s retirement clears the way for Mr. Biden to follow through on his campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the high court. It also gives Mr. Biden somewhat of a political lifeline ahead of the November elections.

Confirmation of a liberal justice would be a much-needed victory for Mr. Biden, whose approval ratings have plummeted in recent months. Democrats are already preparing for the possibility of a Republican takeover of Congress in the midterms.

Mr. Biden on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to selecting a Black woman for the Supreme Court. He said the selection process will be rigorous and an announcement will come by the end of February.

“I have made no decision, except one,” Mr. Biden said. “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 Supreme Court.”

Top candidates to replace Justice Breyer include federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was confirmed in June to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.

Other likely contenders for the lifetime appointment include a trio of U.S. district judges, J. Michelle Childs (South Carolina), Wilhelmina Wright (Minnesota) and Leslie Abrams Gardner (Georgia); and Sherrilyn Ifill, director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Senate Democrats have vowed a swift confirmation process to ensure Mr. Biden can get his successor through while they still control the upper chamber.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Wednesday that the president’s pick will be confirmed with “all deliberate speed.”

With Democrats holding a narrow majority in the Senate, Mr. Biden will have to nominate someone who can garner 50 votes in the Senate.

Democrats could pass Mr. Biden’s nominee without a single Republican vote due to a 2017 rule change under then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. The change lowered the threshold to break the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees from 60 votes to 51 votes.

Although the president’s leftist base is energized about the opportunity to put a liberal on the nation’s highest court, the confirmation battle is not expected to be as intense as it was for Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Replacing Justice Breyer, Mr. Biden will not change the court’s conservative 6-3 majority.