The Left is desperately trying to shore up the government in their favor. But this is beyond the pale.
And now this Supreme Court resignation news is dropping jaws on Capitol Hill.
Rumors of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor stepping down to allow her replacement before Donald Trump’s potential inauguration are just “idle speculation” and not “realistic,” according to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Durbin shared his perspective with Politico after reports surfaced of Democrats debating whether the 70-year-old justice should retire early to prevent Trump from filling her seat if she steps down after his return to the White House in January.
“Whoever makes those calls [for a retirement] can’t count,” Durbin said in the interview.
“Take a look at the calendar and tell me how in the world you could achieve that without setting aside the budget and the defense authorization act and all the other things that need to be done? I don’t think it’s a realistic idea.”
Adding fuel to the debate, another Democratic senator told Politico, “She can sort of resign conditionally on someone being appointed to replace her. But she can’t resign conditioned on a specific person. What happens if she resigns and the nominee to replace her isn’t confirmed, and the next president fills the vacancy?”
Sotomayor, one of the three Democratic-appointed justices on the Supreme Court, is central to the current discussions as Democrats face a narrow window for action before Republicans take Senate control in 2024.
Those close to Sotomayor have made it clear she has no intentions of stepping down. “This is no time to lose her important voice on the court.”
“She just turned 70 and takes better care of herself than anyone I know,” a source recently told The Wall Street Journal.
This comes on the heels of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders saying he wouldn’t entertain the idea.
He stepped forward on Sunday to defend Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s continued service on the Supreme Court, amid murmurs from within the Democratic ranks about pressuring her to retire while President Joe Biden holds office.
When asked by Meet the Press host Kristen Welker if he believed Sotomayor, now 70, should consider stepping down so Biden could nominate a liberal successor, Sanders replied with a firm, “No.”
He acknowledged hearing “a little bit” of discussion among Democratic senators about the possibility, yet made it clear he doesn’t think Sotomayor should be asked to step aside from her lifetime role on the bench.
“I don’t think it’s sensible,” Sanders added, offering no further details on his stance.
Speculation about Sotomayor’s potential resignation has circulated behind the scenes since last week, after President-elect Donald Trump was projected to win the presidential race.
So far, however, no Democrat in office has openly urged Sotomayor to retire.
The reasoning behind such conversations likely centers on the narrow window left for Biden, as both president and with a Democratic-led Senate, to confirm a liberal justice in Sotomayor’s place.
Should she pass away during Trump’s tenure, the door would be open for another conservative appointment, shifting the already 6-3 conservative court even further to the right.
Democrats were put in a similar position with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who opted not to retire during President Barack Obama’s second term when Democrats controlled 55 Senate seats.
Her passing in September 2020 allowed Trump, in his first term, to replace her with conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, cementing the current conservative majority on the court.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
