U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to retire, giving U.S. President Joe Biden a chance to fill the vacancy with the court¡¯s first Black woman and setting up a confirmation showdown in the Senate.
The next justice would reinforce the court¡¯s outnumbered liberal wing and potentially serve for decades but won¡¯t shift the ideological balance. Breyer, the court¡¯s oldest justice at 83, is a pragmatist who typically sides with the liberal wing in divisive cases.
Biden declined to confirm the retirement at the opening of a session with business leaders at the White House on Wednesday. A person familiar with the justice¡¯s thinking said Breyer was retiring.
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