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Democrats are considering efforts to pressure Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to resign so they can replace her with a progressive justice before President Donald Trump takes office in January.
Sotomayor, 70, was nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2009 and is the oldest leftist justice in the nation’s highest court.
“One senator Playbook spoke with last night told us that the topic has come up repeatedly this week in talks with their colleagues,” Politico reported.
“Inevitably, those conversations end up with a recognition of two realities: (1) It’d be a risky play with the party already trying to figure out how to handle a crowded lame-duck session, and (2) no senator seems to be offering to be the person to put his or her neck on their line publicly (or even privately) by pushing for Sotomayor to step aside,” the outlet continued.
The topic has also garnered attention on social media among policy leaders.
Sotomayor should retire tomorrow and let the lame duck Senate confirm her replacement,” Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, wrote.
Several logistical challenges could keep the plan from moving forward. For example, outgoing Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is unlikely to support the effort.
Time would also be a concern, as the holiday schedule and any moves to block the effort from Republicans could backfire, leaving an open seat in the Supreme Court when Republicans take power of the Senate.
The Supreme Court’s nine justices are currently considered a conservative majority, with six conservative justices and three progressive or liberal justices. Three conservative justices were appointed during Trump’s first term, including Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
One justice has been appointed under President Joe Biden. Ketanji Brown Jackson took her seat in the nation’s highest court on June 30, 2022. The remaining progressive justice is Elena Kagan, appointed to the court in 2010 under Obama.
The remaining justices include Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and John Roberts, who also serves as Chief Justice.
