The White House declined to intervene on Friday as liberal Democrats mounted a pressure campaign calling on Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire so President Joe Biden can replace him with a younger left-leaning justice.
Breyer’s decision regarding when “it’s time to no longer serve on the Supreme Court” was his alone, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. But she did not weigh in on whether liberal advocacy groups should continue circulating a petition urging Breyer to retire.
Recommended Stories
“I think I can just speak to what the president’s view is of this: the Supreme Court justice’s ability to make his own decision,” Psaki told reporters Friday.
FACTS VS. SPIN: BIDEN WHITE HOUSE BLURS THE LINE TO ADVANCE GOALS
Psaki was not aware of any conversations between Biden and the justices before or since his inauguration, she said.
Demand Justice, a liberal group, started collecting petition signatures concerning Breyer’s retirement after the justice criticized activists imploring Biden and Congress to expand the Supreme Court, an act that could temporarily nullify the conservative justices’ influence. Activists are agitating for change as Democrats are not guaranteed to control the Senate after the 2022 midterm elections. Breyer is 82. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 87 when she died last year.
The Breyer fracas coincides with Biden’s announcement on Friday that he signed an executive order creating a Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Biden has given the bipartisan commission 180 days to write a report on its debate over potential reforms from the date of its first public meeting with experts. Some of the reforms that will be discussed include “packing” the court or introducing term limits.
Psaki was pressed Friday on why the commission would not be issuing recommendations along with its report. Instead, she did not make any commitments related to what the report would “look like,” saying she did not want to get “ahead of their process.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I’m sure he’ll take a look at that report that this diverse group of members are putting together, thinking through for the next 180 days, and it will impact his thinking moving forward,” Psaki said of Biden.
