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Many on the left had quietly hoped that Justice Stephen Breyer would retire in 2021, opening up a seat on the Supreme Court for President Biden to fill — but now some are waging a public campaign to pressure the liberal stalwart to step down.
The calls come in the wake of a speech Breyer gave to Harvard Law School students and alumni earlier this week when he warned that court packing – a term for adding seats to the Supreme Court to change its political makeup – could harm the rule of law in the U.S.
"Proposals have been recently made to increase the number of Supreme Court justices. I'm sure that others will discuss related political arguments," he said. "This lecture reflects my own effort to be certain that those who are going to debate these questions ... also consider an important institutional point. Consider it. Namely, how would court packing reflect and affect the rule of law itself?"