Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his intention to retire at the end of the current term, providing President Joe Biden with the opportunity to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice. Breyer, the court’s oldest current justice, has served for over two decades as an important figure on the Supreme Court: in 2016 he—with the majority opinion—struck down an anti-abortion law in Texas that would have closed clinics under the guise of safety protocols, in 2020 he wrote the court’s decision protecting the free speech of students, and just last year in 2021 he voted to continue to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Pragmatic and moderate, Breyer had a “compromise first” approach during his time as a justice, rarely openly dissenting with the decisions of the court. 

While not a controversial or unpopular figure by any means, even if he tends to lean more towards the center than his Democratic peers on the bench, Breyer has faced immense pressure during the past year from his fellow Democrats to retire during Biden’s term as president, especially while the Democrats hold narrow control of the Senate. The timing of Breyer’s retirement is crucial. Retiring at the end of the Supreme Court’s current term enables the Democrats to maintain their position in the Supreme Court by filling his seat with a younger candidate. Already holding a 3-6 minority, losing Breyer’s seat under a future Republican president would give the GOP even stronger control of the Supreme Court and make it more difficult for the Democrats to balance the political scale. 

As such, the Democrats of the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have professed their commitment to making the appointment process as swift as possible, something that would be aided by the recent changes in the nomination process. Whoever Biden nominates will very likely succeed in earning the Supreme Court seat because only 51 votes are needed to confirm the nominee, the fifty-first of which can be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris in the case of a deadlock. This gives the Democratic party the upper hand even if every single Republican senator votes against the nominee. 

Breyer’s upcoming retirement offers another opportunity for the Supreme Court: President Biden has declared that his Supreme Court nominee will be a Black woman, the first in the nation’s history to be appointed. Among possible nominees are Leondra Kruger, a California Supreme Court Justice, Michelle Childs, a South Carolinian federal district court judge, and, named the most likely to be appointed, Ketanji Brown Jackson, a D.C. Circuit Judge who previously served as Breyer’s clerk. Many see his appointment of a Black woman to the Supreme Court as his return to the influential role Black women played in securing him the presidency. Should he follow through on his promise—and Biden has stated his commitment to doing so—this Supreme Court will be the most diverse in America’s history: never before have there been four women serving at the same time. 

It would not just be the most diverse court in American history, but also one of the most political. The Supreme Court’s primary function is to be an impartial, apolitical body. However, paralleling the country’s rise in polarizing politics, many have viewed the court as becoming more and more politically divided, especially so with the recently appointed justices. The replacement of Breyer, statistically the most moderate of the Democratic representatives, with someone likely to be more political in their rulings may have other, less optimistic implications for the future of the court. 

For now, what exactly will come of Breyer’s retirement is still uncertain. However, many Democrats celebrate the opportunities his timely retirement affords their party, as well as respect Breyer’s long line of service on the Supreme Court.