82-year-old liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer hasn’t decided when he’ll retire

After 27 years, the justice is under pressure from Democrat groups to step down

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has no immediate plans to retire from the bench, as he told CNN in an interview.

Mr Breyer has recently come under pressure from liberal groups to retire, in order to enable President Joe Biden to name a replacement while Democrats have a Senate majority.

The high court veteran turns 83 in August, and has spent nearly 27 years as a justice.

Groups of liberal advocates, law professors and some Democratic members of Congress have attempted to persuade Breyer to leave the bench, leading to intense speculation over whether he will do so while the Senate still holds a Democratic majority, and Mr Biden is able to name a younger liberal.

When CNN asked Mr Breyer whether he had decided when to step down, he responded: “No”.

Mr Breyer’s power as the ranking justice on the left has increased after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last year. He expressed satisfaction at his new seniority, saying it “has made a difference to me ... It is not a fight. It is not sarcasm. It is deliberation”.

Mr Bryer, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, is known for trying to build consensus, and his record is highly regarded by liberals. But many still say it’s important he makes way for a new justice.

Comparisons have been drawn to the circumstances when Ginsburg died in 2020. Conservative Amy Coney Barrett was rushed through as a successor, just days before President Donald Trump was voted out of office.

This time however, a new Biden appointee would not change the current ideological split 6-3 on the conservative-dominated bench.

Mr Breyer, told CNN that two factors will be overriding when he does decide to retire: “Primarily, of course, health [...] second, the court.”