Holy Crap, Justice Breyer Is Finally Retiring!

It's happening.

Photo of Justice Stephen Breyer sitting in front of a red background
Who will replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court? The speculation begins. Paul Marotta/Getty Images

You know that scene from The Office where Michael Scott is just shouting “It’s happening, it’s happening!” That’s what’s going on right now after news broke that Justice Stephen Breyer plans on retiring.

Let’s say that again: Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring.

So what does this all mean? In this emergency episode of Boom! Lawyered co-hosts Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy break that all down. With the Supreme Court scheduled to release opinions on Monday, Jess predicts we’ll see some smoke, some fire: “You know what it’s like when you’re done with something—you’re done.”

What else—Biden could make good on his promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Breyer is a reliable liberal judge who has long been an ally for reproductive rights, so having his seat filled by a Democratic president is crucial. But it also ultimately won’t shift the makeup of the Court from a conservative supermajority. Then of course there’s the question of the confirmation process: Will Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) deploy their “badly dressed evil villain duo” routine and royally screw their party yet again?

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Transcript (coming soon)