Politics Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Is Retiring Breyer's exit sets up President Joe Biden to replace him with another liberal-leaning jurist before the midterm elections that could sway the balance of power in Washington, D.C. By Adam Carlson Published on January 26, 2022 12:16 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Justice Stephen Breyer. Photo: Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Justice Stephen Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, setting up President Joe Biden to replace him with another liberal-leaning jurist before the midterm elections that could sway the balance of power in Washington, D.C. Breyer's pending retirement was first reported by NBC News and confirmed by CNN and NPR. Reporting conflicted on the precise timing of his exit and he has not publicly addressed it. A court spokesperson did not comment to PEOPLE. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Breyer in a statement Wednesday: "He embodies the best qualities and highest ideals of American justice: knowledge, wisdom, fairness, humility, restraint." Looking ahead, Schumer vowed, "President Biden's Supreme Court nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed." Justice Stephen Breyer Writes Emotional Poem to Honor 'My Good, Good Friend' Ruth Bader Ginsburg The 83-year-old Breyer was nominated to the high court by President Bill Clinton and subsequently confirmed in 1994. Since the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he has been seen as the anchor of the court's liberal minority. A San Francisco native, Breyer previously served as an appellate judge and Harvard University law professor. The date and details of his possible retirement had been of increasing importance to Democrats in D.C., given their fragile hold on Congress and the White House and the threat of losing the Senate in November's midterms. "Primarily, of course, health," Breyer told CNN in an interview last year about what would motivate a retirement decision. "Second, the court." During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden promised to nominate a Black woman — a first — if a vacancy arose. Various Republicans had already signaled a reluctance to move forward on confirming Biden's judicial nominees if they retook the Senate. GOP senators had previously stonewalled President Barack Obama's ability to make a replacement on the court.