New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, expressed her support on Sunday for the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, arguing he should step down from his position when the court's current term ends.
During an interview with CNN, AOC was asked about her stance with the notion led by New York Rep. Mondaire Jones that Breyer should retire. In April, he said Breyer's retirement should be a given from what the country has learned with previous similar incidents. On Sunday, AOC said her fellow representative had a point.
The incident Jones was referring to involved the late Justice Ruth Bade Ginsburg who died in September 2020. Former United States President Barack Obama has been calling out to Ginsburg to retire so a candidate could be nominated to replace her before the 2016 elections where a Republican could have taken power.
Issue With The Court
A year before her death, Ginsburg fired back at critics when she chose to continue her service with the court. During an event in September 2019, the late Ginsburg said there was no one else that could get through the Republican Senate other than her, Business Insider reported.
While AOC said she would be contemplating the issue a bit more, she said she was inclined to agree with the recommendation. The current term of the court is set to end at the end of the month.
Former President Bill Clinton appointed Breyer to the court in 1994. Currently, he is the oldest-serving person on the court at 82 years old. Former President Donald Trump appointed three justices to the court during his term. The Senate confirmed all of the Republican's nominees.
Trump also nominated Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 to the court after Justice Antonin Scalia's seat was left vacant in 2016 due to his death. The Republican also nominated Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 for the seat Justice Anthony Kennedy left open after retiring.
Refusal to Step Down
On the other hand, Breyer has refused to discuss his potential retirement plans. He previously disagreed with the notion of expanding the court's size of nine members during a speech in early 2021, CNN reported.
Due to his age, Breyer's reluctance to pursue a retirement puts Democrats at risk of losing the seat to another Republican if a Republican wins the next election.
Previously, Breyer voted in support of conservatives' perspective regarding giving police broad powers to take DNA samples of criminal suspects. He also joined Chief Justice John Roberts in criticizing the 2012 Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion provision, The Atlantic reported. That decision resulted in the deprivation of health care to millions of Americans considered to be low-income earners. Critics also said Breyer has not been able to fill the shoes that Ginsburg left behind as a liberal icon. He did not have the same criticism of the court's impact on poor people and people of color, similar to what Justice Sonia Sotomayor previously opened up about.
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