Liberals are starting to push for Justice Stephen Breyer, 82, to resign so Joe Biden can replace him with a much-younger jurist once Democrats take control of the Senate.
"Justice Breyer's service on the court has been remarkable, and history will remember him even more fondly if he ends up playing a critical role in ensuring the appointment of the first Black woman to the court," Brian Fallon, the spokesman for Demand Justice, a liberal group supporting Supreme Court reform, told Politico. "Timing his retirement in the coming year would guarantee that opportunity, and it would be wise to do so because the window may prove a narrow one."
Another Democrat, former state Rep. Bakari Sellers of South Carolina, tweeted Tuesday that if Democrats end up in control of the Senate, Breyer should retire the minute Biden is sworn in.
Breyer said in December he plans to retire "eventually" rather than remain for life, like late Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Antonin Scalia, but still said it's "hard to know" when that would happen, reports Fox News.
Biden said last year he was putting a list together of women who could potentially serve on the court, and Fallon mentioned D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as a possibility.
Jackson, who is 50 years old, clerked for Breyer and was reportedly on President Barack Obama's list of candidates for the court before he nominated Merrick Garland in 2016.
Demand Justice and other liberal groups have called for expanding the size of the court to allow Democrats to add more liberal judges. The organization wants four seats added to overcome the court's current conservative majority.