With President Joe Biden on the way out and President-elect Donald Trump about to take office, both Republicans and Democrats are considering whether or not they should push for Supreme Court justices to retire to benefit their own parties.
Biden has a little more than two months before he leaves office, prompting Democrats to wonder if they should increase pressure on Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 70, to retire, according to Politico.
In the meantime, Republicans are already thinking about who could replace Justice Clarence Thomas, 76, and Justice Samuel Alito, 74, when Trump takes office, the National Review reported.
While both parties are reportedly considering their options, there have been no movements publicly on either end.
Though Republicans have four years to pressure the older justices to retire and replace them with more Trump appointees, for Democrats time is more pressing as they face the risk of losing another liberal seat during Trump’s second term.
It would however be tricky for Democrats to nominate, and get Senate approval, for a justice in the limited time they have remaining.
But there is undoubtedly a scar left from 2019 when Ruth Bader-Ginsburg died, after refusing to retire, and Republicans quickly appointed Amy Coney Barrett with just four months remaining in Trump’s first term.
Two years later, Barrett helped the conservative wing of the court overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling which had given Americans a constitutional right to abortion access for five decades.
Democrats may reportedly be considering pressuring Sotomayor out but it may be unlikely to happen given the risk it poses. Should they fail to get enough Senate votes, they would create an empty seat for Trump to fill immediately on taking office in January. Additionally, the party risks generating controversy for pushing out the first Hispanic justice on the court.
Similarly, Trump allies have rebuked Republicans who float the idea of pushing Thomas or Alito out before they’re ready – even with the safety net of a GOP executive and legislative branch.
Leonard Leo, the conservative operative who helped Trump pick his Supreme Court justices during his first term, compared that to “talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date.”
“Justices Thomas and Alito have given their lives to our country and our Constitution, and should be treated with more dignity and respect than they are getting from some pundits,” Leo said in a statement obtained by The Washington Post.
It is not uncommon for the public or political analysts to discuss potential Supreme Court replacements when a new administration is set to take office. Given there are only nine seats on the court, it’s rare to see replacements occur yet they have an enormous impact on American lives.
