Democrats who control the U.S. Senate plan to move President Joe Biden’s upcoming nomination of a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on a quick timetable, similar to the single month that Republicans used for Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a source familiar with the planning said.
Breyer, 83, will retire when the court’s current term wraps up in June, U.S. lawmakers said on Wednesday. Democrats narrowly control the Senate, which confirms federal judicial nominees.
Former President Donald Trump nominated Barrett on Sept. 26, 2020, a little over week after the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Senate, then led by Republicans, confirmed Barrett on Oct. 26, 2020, a week before the presidential election that Trump lost to Biden. Barrett’s appointment boosted the court’s conservative majority to 6-3.
