Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from Supreme Court: Justice Stephen G. Breyer will retire at the end of the Supreme Court’s current term, giving President Biden a chance to reinforce its liberal minority and deliver on his campaign pledge to make history by nominating the first African American female justice. Breyer, 83, is the court’s oldest justice and was nominated to the court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. Breyer has been under unprecedented pressure to retire while Democrats have narrow control of the Senate, which must confirm Supreme Court nominees. The current term concludes at the end of June. Biden declined to get ahead of Breyer’s announcement. [Although Breyer apparently told the President he was going to retire, he has yet to announce that fact publically. Several news articles say it was leaked, most likely by the White House.] “Every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own,” the president said. “There has been no announcement from Justice Breyer. Let him make whatever statement he’s going to make. And I’ll be happy to talk about it later.” Biden’s pledge to nominate an African American woman is a first. There have been 108 White men on the court and only two Black men — Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas. There have been five women — Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and three current members: Sotomayor, Kagan, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. 
