 Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced that he will be retiring from the Supreme Court at the age of 83 I think that this is a sound decision. Many people were urging him to retire just because Being that old on the Supreme Court not to sound a gist is a little bit of a risk And if RGB's death taught us anything, it's that we can't Take things for granted as a country things can change very rapidly and you don't want to put Democrats in a predicament where They lose another Supreme Court seat where the split is then 7 to 2 I mean him being replaced isn't necessarily going to change much on the Supreme Court But it's good that a Republican like Donald Trump perhaps in 2024 2025 Does not get the opportunity to have one more Supreme Court seat, but the elephant in the room is is This even good and be something that Joe Biden can accomplish given how Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sonoma have obstructed Basically everything that the president has tried to accomplish So there's a lot of details here to unpack for more on this we've got a Brett Wilkins of Common Dreams who explains Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Biden's nominee to replace Breyer will receive a prompt hearing and will be considered and confirmed by the Full Senate with all deliberate speed according to Reuters Advocates urged Breyer to retire while Democrats control the US Senate which must approve the president's pick Given that the upper chamber is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes There are concerns that Senators Manchin and Kirsten Sonoma who have torpedoed their own party's agenda including by refusing to abolish the filibuster Could throat a progressive nominee since the Republican-controlled Senate in 2017 invoked the so-called nuclear option Which eliminated the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees to secure the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch The first of former president Donald Trump's three Supreme Court nominees a simple majority vote is all that will be required to approve Biden's pick if Manchin and Sonoma try to screw around with Biden's nomination to replace Justice Breyer It's going to be tortures and pitchforks time mark Jacob a former Chicago Sun Times editor tweeted. Yeah, right However, other observers noted that both of the senators have been reliable votes as Biden appoints federal judges at a record pace No, I'm sorry But the pitchfork in tortures land is just laughable whenever liberals huff and puff they Instantaneously back down the second there's even a minimal amount of pressure exerted on them So I don't expect the liberals to put up a fight if Manchin and Sonoma do indeed try to block Whoever Joe Biden chooses to nominate having said though there is some cause for optimism because Biden and or because Manchin and Sonoma Rather have been improving all of Biden's federal judges So we'll see but then again, I think it would be foolish to kind of give them the benefit of the doubt given what they've done so far So I think that we should basically expect the worst but cross our fingers and hope for the best It'll be fascinating to see how this plays out Uh, but there is the question of who is Joe Biden going to pick So, uh, preferably the first thing you should consider is that they are very very progressive in their views And the second most important thing is that they're young because who knows when democrats or are going to have control Once again and seeing as how Mitch McConnell has stolen two supreme court seats from democrats Don't take any chances nominate someone who's safe who's young who can serve for a very long time Now there is someone who Biden is likely to nominate or who is at least considering and that person is Katanji brown Jackson Now billy freeland came up with this fantastic recommendation in my opinion And this is someone who biden is already likely considering. So, uh freeland writes I'm partial to Katanji brown Jackson a dc circuit judge and former brier clerk Judge Jackson is a former public defender and experience sorely lacking on the highest court in the land So her experience as a public defender would be invaluable in my opinion and also really important thing here She's pretty young. She's in our early fifties. I think she's 51 to be specific But this would be really important. She could potentially serve out decades on the supreme court if need be We we want someone who could serve who's capable and also progressive Um now on top of those two qualifications It's really important to note that there's never been a black woman on the supreme court So if she's confirmed her confirmation would be historic So I am really happy with this particular, uh, nomination I'm not necessarily too familiar with her rulings But honestly, we just need someone to vote with the liberal justices there and I'm happy with that Young liberal I'm fine with that progressive ideally, but as long as they're not going to be another vote for conservatives I'll take it. I mean at this point we are desperate with the state of the current supreme court Now there are other options that biden is also considering too in particular Another prospect is u.s district court judge j michelle childs Who was appointed by former president brock obama in 2010 and is reportedly backed by house majority whip james cliburn I'll pass on that a prominent biden ally a third is liandra kruger an associate justice at the california supreme court And former principal deputy u.s solicitor general during the obama administration So I don't know much about liandra kruger, but I will pass on michelle childs. We don't want anyone who Cliburn supports he backed hillary clinton Over bernie sanders in 2016. He backed joe biden over bernie sanders in 2020 We all see how that's working out. So anyone who he believes is good I'm just going to assume by default that they're they're not good So um, and that's reductionist. Of course, I acknowledge that but um, his judgment is bad He's not looking out for the people he's looking at for his donors So I just have to assume that he's opting for someone who's the most corporatist so, yeah, I think that the uh, The one who is probably The most favorable currently the favorite to become the nomination for joe biden is judge katanji brown jackson And I would be absolutely enthusiastic about this choice. It's just a matter of will joe manchin and kirsten sinema actually allow this to happen I just I don't have that much hope I mean again, there's there's cause for some level of optimism I say that very cautiously because they haven't been blocking biden's federal appointments But I wouldn't put it past them to morally grandstand about how this is a far leftist activist judge We don't know. So we'll just have to wait and see again I am anxious to see how this unfolds the way that this plays out But either way, um, I will keep you updated and let's let's hope for the best