One of the least discussed aspects of the interview with President Joe Biden last night was his declaration that two of the nine justices are not long for the Court. The question is which two are facing retirement or the reaper.
In arguing for his remaining as the nominee despite record low polling, the President told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos with certainty that the next president “in going to appoint at least two new appointees.”
That must be uneasy news for the relatively small court that almost of a third will soon pass . . . one way or another.
Liberals have been pushing Sonia Sotomayor to retire, but she has clearly rejected those calls. On CNN, journalist Josh Barro bluntly wondered why Sotomayor remains on the bench when younger jurists could be brought on to guarantee a liberal vote for years to come. He indicated that many liberals are frustrated with her for not stepping down: “I find it a little bit surprising, given what Justice Sotomayor describes there about the stakes of what is happening before the Supreme Court, that she’s not retired. She’s 69 years old, she’s been on the court for 15 years.”
At 70, Sotomayor shows no signs of mental decline. She has been a highly effective justice, stepping into the vacuum created by the death in 2020 of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Of course, few ever questioned the “Notorious RBG” in her decision to stay on the Court, despite her much older age and longer tenure. While some of us noted that Ginsburg was taking a huge risk in not allowing then-President Barack Obama to pick a successor, she remained on the Court in spite of medical problems and ultimately was replaced by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Ginsburg, however, was almost 20 years older than Sotomayor. There is no concern for deterioration or death on the bench in Sotomayor’s case. It is simply a matter of swapping out justices like light bulbs before they burn out.
All of the justices are younger than Ginsburg when she passed (and considerably younger than President Biden who is running for a second four-year term).
- Justice Thomas, 76.
- Justice Alito, 74.
- Justice Sotomayor, 70.
- Chief Justice Roberts, 69.
- Justice Kagan, 64.
- Justice Kavanaugh, 59.
- Justice Gorsuch, 56.
- Justice Jackson, 53.
- Justice Barrett, 52.
Justice Clarence Thomas is the oldest, but has not indicated that he is ready to retire. He would likely want to wait for a Republican president.
If history is a measure, he has time. Oliver Wendell Holmes retired at 90.
A recent analysis of the court’s projected composition suggested the next time the majority of justices will be appointed by a Democrat is likely to be around 2065.
I did not find that analysis particularly compelling. However, I also fail to see how Biden can be certain that 2 of the 9 justices will die or retire. After all, even Thomas is six years younger than Biden. If he is predicting the death or retirement of Thomas within four years, he would presumably predict his own passing or retirement years ago.
Running on the pledge to replace two departing justices could prove awkward if the justices are reluctant to be replaced or dispatched. This is not the first time that such premature claims led to the inconvenient lingering of the subjects:
Biden making a prediction two justices will be replaced? This coming from the guy who during his interview yesterday said,
“I’ll beat Donald Trump! I will beat him again in 2020!”
“We’re gonna protect our children from getting weapons of war off our streets!”
“The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault mine. Nobody’s fault, mine. I, uh, prepared what I usually would do, sitting down as I did, come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail.
And I realized about partway through that, you know, I quoted The New York Times had me down 10 points before the debate, 9 now or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is that what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t, I mean, the way the debate ran, not — my fault, no one else’s fault — no one else’s fault.”
Stephanopoulos: “Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?”
BIDEN: “I don’t think I did.”
Stephanopoulos “Did you know how badly it was going?”
BIDEN: *incoherent rambling*
“It seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in…”
BIDEN: “Well I just had a bad night.”
He also said, “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’
I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
Implying that his Lord is OK with all the billions in weapon sales, pay-for-play,
getting prosecutors fired, weaponizing the justice system, censorship, lying…
But c’mon man, he’s just doing his “goodest job”.
As the ‘first black woman VP to a black president’, no less.
Millions of people of all parties have experienced some relative or friend who has had the same affliction as Joe Biden. Sadly, it does not get better. We may look for signs that it is transient and the person is experiencing a senior moment or some other temporary slippage but, alas, it just never gets better. The stress of daily living can accelerate the deterioration and being POTUS is a unique and stressful event that likely will force Biden to be institutionalized faster than if he was just allowed to retire and play with his green Corvette. He or Harris must run for POTUS or destroy the party for generations to come. This choice was one made by Biden and the party and they must now live with it and the consequences, which is certain defeat in November. The people will accept a POTUS who is a philanderer or even a crime family elder as long as he also protects the nation, but they will not accept someone who is non compos mentis. If the Democrats attempt to replace Biden and Harris, the party will split into heated fragments. Should this happen, we may see the first father-and-son POTUS dynasty when Don, Jr. or Eric takes over for their dad in 2028. Who knows, maybe even Ivanka might change her mind by then and reconsider the job of POTUS. That means it will be 2036 or beyond before the Democrats will be able to field another viable candidate for POTUS.
Biden discussed the next President appointing 2 justices a few weeks ago.
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/15/nx-s1-5007404/biden-supreme-court-vacancies-trump#:~:text=LOS%2520ANGELES%2520%E2%80%93%2520President%2520Biden%2520on,Donald%2520Trump%252C%2520is%2520successful%2520in
If Trump wins, there will be pressure for Thomas and Alito to retire near the end of Trump’s term to ensure the seats remain conservative. If Biden wins, Thomas and Alito are staying put and hoping for Republican to win in 2028.
Do you want to bet that Thomas and Alito are going NOWHERE ?
Do you want to bet that Thomas and Alito are going NOWHERE ?
That feckless cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat? Of course not!
That Soviet Democrat Anonymous Birthing Person is projecting so hard it resembles the old drive-in theaters.
A cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat apparatchik tried this projection: If Trump wins, there will be pressure for Thomas and Alito to retire near the end of Trump’s term to ensure the seats remain conservative.
So your projection is because your fellow police state fascist Soviet Democrats first pressured Ginsberg to retire towards the end of Bolshevik Barack’s presidency, and have been doing the same to the racist Wise Latina Birthing Person Justice Sotomayor – that means Republicans would do EXACTLY THE SAME THING!
Because (of course) Republicans would want to risk a healthy Thomas or Alito retired and potentially replaced by the next version of Roberts, Kavanaugh, or Barrett – the alleged standards of Constitutional judicial thought.
Tell us, cowardly Anonymous… where was Thomas pressured to retire towards the end of Trump’s presidency? Name the Republican appointed justices that were pressured to retire towards the end of Bush’s presidency?
Soviet Democrats, The Queens Of Marxist Projection: if they’re doing it, then they project that it’s actually Republicans that do it.
Maybe Biden is planning to sic his DOJ on two Conservative Justices…….
An excellent recipe for a 9-0 Supreme court decision severely limiting the power of the Justice department.
Which they will ignore.
Another option for aging Joe Biden is to nominate himself to the Supreme Court rather than running for President. Just what the court needs a doddering old fool on the court who can’t remember his own name.
Soon as I receive the email pertaining to this article, my mind immediately jumped!!! To possibly thinking President Biden, if he wins, would try to oust!!!! 2 Of the conservative justices!!!! 👩⚖️ 👨⚖️ Seriously, Seriously 😳 it did. And then I read the article. IN-FULL. At no time did I think for a second, for a minute, did I think differently. Not until I read the entire article. Personally, I don’t see any of the 2 liberal-justices retiring. Retiring early just to please President Joe Biden.
He has immunity. He has F-15s. There would be a full investigation as there was after the whipping incident. Kamala would cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm the appointment.
The remedy for immunity is impeachment.
You can’t impeach or indict a doddering old fart.™ Robert Hur
Nor can you impeach fast enough to undo all of the unconstitutional executive orders, pardons, and appointments from day one.
Biden is a demented old fool and has no idea what he is saying. He probably doesn’t even remember saying it.
Well said by “Old Man from Kansas” who should know better than most others.
OldManFromKS.
Well said.
In November voters will be voting against the failures and lies of the current administration.
They will NOT be punishing Joe Biden. They WILL be punishing those who lied to put him into the oval office and who have been running the shadow presidency.
That is not a problem that can be fixed by replacing the candidate.
In order to fix the court at 9 Judges, you would need a constitutional amendment. The Constitution sets no number at present. Legislation can simply be overturned if you control the house, senate and presidency. We have been at 9 justices for about 150 years. What congress can do is expand the number of appeals courts , change jurisdictions by expanding some and shrinking others. Set up more district judges and change present jurisdictions to include more of a mix of city, suburban and rural so federal juries cast a more diverse net. Specifically the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals needs to have a smaller jurisdiction and maybe a new Circuit in Seattle including Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Northern California and Alaska. Just a suggestion.
The Democrats have, however, stated that they would increase and pack the supreme court. That move would have severe consequences politically and socially.
The Republicans played by the rules and got the court they wanted when RBG ignored all advice and hung on. We had a liberal court starting late in FDR’s term up until the 21st century. The dems got used to forcing social change with the courts when they failed with legislation. The Dems have failed to get used to the fact that they need to craft legislation and do the job the legislature is there for.
Writing a vague law and then letting the president change things at his whim concentrates power and does not unite us. Forcing the legislature to do it’s job means that the Dems and Reps need to talk to each other and learn the art of compromise again. If they want to unite the country then do their jobs. There is a lot of dead weight in congress with plenty of it’s members over 80.
There is a lot of dead weight in congress with plenty of it’s members over 80.
Pretty good comment up until that stereotype got launched. Chuck Grassley is fairly effective for Republicans at 90. Bernie The Commie Sanders is unfortunately very effective for the Leninist’s cause at 82. Joe Biden showed up full of great new ideas as opposed to the deadweight at the time at age 30.
Representing fresh new ideas instead of all that dead weight we have Maxwell Frost at 27 years of age. He brought lots of fresh ideas into office he picked up working on Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign as well as for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Some of those fresh new ideas was forming activist groups trying to prohibit “Baby Killer Assault Weapons”.
Lets not forget Another Outrageous Communist – she’s 34 now, but we’ve had five years of her activism to listen to her pitch her great new ideas.
Sara Jacobs is another fresh face elected by Soviet Democrats. She came into office after the 2020 election at 29 years old. Jacobs brings the fresh new ideas she got while working for the United Nations and UNICEF. A stint working for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign helped her complete the ideology of the fresh new ideas she has gifted the country with.
Republicans have added their own fresh faces to counter that elderly dead weight. Aren’t we fortunate to have George Santos who joined the House at age 31(?) as at least one Republican in the fresh faced Mod Squad. Except, of course… we threw him out while the Soviet Democrats banded together to defend Adam Schiff and keep him in the house.
Presuming that old age equals feeble or unable to achieve anything while youth are a guarantee of giving us the future we all want is a wee bit dangerous to assume.
This country owes Joe Manchin a deep debt of gratitude
Were it not for him, we wouldnt be having this discussion. There would be at least 13 Justices, and that number would be fixed in law.
There would also be 52 states and 4 additional Dem senators.
There would be a federal law legalizing abortion without limits and the libtard installed Court would have already ruled it Constitutional.
There would be a federal law mandating mail in and early voting for President without signature verification (thats racist) and the libtard installed Court would have already ruled it Constitutional.
There would already be an amnesty bill signed into law granting a path to citizenship for all illegals and immediate voting rights to anyone paying taxes. And the libtard installed Court would have already ruled it Constitutional.
RESPECTFULLY, WE HAVE YOU AS WELL TO BE THANKFUL FOR… AND A PITY YOU ARE NOT ON THE COURT… EVEN AS A DEMOCRAT, YOU VOTE THE CONSTITUTION NOT THE PARTY. GOD BLESS YOU PROFESSOR AND THANKS.
I told my far left wing girlfriend, the morning of Nov 4, 2020, when she was dancing around the bedroom, celebrating what she thought was to come, that Joe Manchin just became the most powerful man on the planet.
She looked at me like my head was mssing, having no clue what that meant.
She cursed him daily for 2 years.
@Anonymous: RE:”I told my far left wing girlfriend…”Your far left wing girlfriend has obviously stopped dancing. She had best keep the eyes in the back of her head open, have learned hand to hand self-protection skills, carry a concealed hand gun or learned to kill with a knife, and take care where she walks or jogs. Biden has brought them here from there and they have brought there here. We are now less safe than we’ve ever been.
The public in general still is not paying attention.
They actually think the agenda of government doesn’t effect them much.
Americans must become engaged.
How I wish it was Chief Justice Roberts, He’s a weak Chief Justice (a Weenie)
or at least step down from Chief Justice. Won’t happen but you can wish for it.
Pope Mobile
https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/-mm-/360c91e40f837b2266598b7d44ba0184bb42f3f7/c=0-44-3000-1739/local/-/media/2015/09/15/USATODAY/USATODAY/635779335995411686-82213MW001-PRESIDENT-BUS.jpg
Chief Justice Roberts Mobile
https://assets.entrepreneur.com/content/3×2/2000/1684335609-HodagMedia.jpg
Perhaps he’s foreshadowing impeachment of two justices but I don’t know what he said and I don’t think he does either. 😏
How the media ignores the fact that Biden finished near the bottom of his Syracuse law school class. He’s always been a second-rate mind, the epitome of a political gasbag.
Biden will be remembered as a political hack who barely passed law school… U.S. system allows persons with no qualifications at all to serve in government / congress etc.
@Anonymous: RE:” U.S. system allows persons with no qualifications at all to serve in government / congress etc.” The Democrat electorate and the braindead “Never Trumper’s” who joined them help select a three time loser for a pitcher and a DEI also ran who had left the stadium, ready to drive out of the parking lot when she was called back to sit in the bull pen.
It’s not just age. We all age differently. Genetics and lifestyle choices have a huge impact on health and longevity. Alan Dershowitz is 85; four years older than Biden, but I watched his podcasts and he’s as sharp as a tack. Nobody expected Scalia to drop dead of a heart attack, but he did. I’ve heard that Sotomayor has diabetes, so that’s not good. And Thomas? I haven’t heard anything about his health, but statistically, older black men tend to have high blood pressure and shortened lifespans. RBG tarnished her own legacy when she clung to the position even though she was a physical wreck, but I’m glad she did, as it opened a spot for ACB. And working and living in D.C. is a risk. Even young, healthy FBI agents get carjacked and pistol whipped. I expect that Biden is determined to stay on long enough to pardon Hunter.
TIN: You note that “Alan Dershowitz is 85; four years older than Biden, but I watched his podcasts and he’s as sharp as a tack.”
I made a similar comment (see below) about my 85-year old neighbor. I just want to tell everyone that Alan Dershowitz is not my neighbor. (But I would have loved to hear his views on a lot of things.)
Just wondering – could Biden provide “pretrial outcome” a pardon to his son Hunter Biden, sort of like an exemption / protection to trial decision? Just asking.
The prospect of attending Biden’s state funeral might keep Justice Thomas going. Likewise Obama’s with respect to Justice Alito.
I’m surprised that Lunch Box Joe hasn’t mentioned Barack Hussein Obama. Now there’s a pretty middle-of-the-road option Jonathan ???
The good professor starts out with “One of the least discussed aspects of the interview with President Joe Biden last night was his declaration that two of the nine justices are not long for the Court” and that the next president “is going to appoint at least two new appointees.”
—Was Biden admitting that he, at 81, is way past his expiration date in cogent thinking and opining?
–or, even worse, that personality traits and opinions (in his case, plagiarism, lying, cheating, milking the system) tend to be more settled and exaggerated in old age?
(“Was Biden admitting that he, at 81, is way past his expiration date in cogent thinking and opining?” –That is to say, in HIS (biden’s) view. Personally speaking, my 85-year-old neighbor is sharp as a tack. I also believe that personality traits and opinions are harder to replace. In Biden’s case, that means lying, plagiarizing, cheating, and milking the system. In Trump’s case, that may mean more exaggerated puffery, bigly.)
Got to love the irony of Biden suggesting younger justices will step aside.
Almighty God, come down and uproot these thorns, we pray.
Digging for topics today, eh? We are discussing something that came from the mouth of Joe Biden after all.
retired or dead brings to mind the pelican brief
You forgot one Justice..
I give up. Who is being forgotten? Tangent: If Trump or anyone in the center becomes the next president, I hope for legislation specifying the number of Justices at nine. I don’t know if FJB seriously considered packing the court, but he campaigned on that possibility.
If the democrats get an opportunity, they WILL pack the court. They would have done it already were it not for Joe Manchin.
There’s already legislation specifying the number of justices at nine. That’s why there are nine justices! But nothing can stop the next D congress from changing that to 13 or 25 or whatever other number it likes.
“Anyone in the center”? What are you talking about? Nearly every position of the Republican Party is radically right-wing and contrary to the values and beliefs of the majority of Americans.
REGARDING ABOVE
Gigi is still desperately hoping readers will see xer/xis opinions as relevant
Key Points:
Gigi is a broken soul, friendless, no family claims xer/xim, and does everything in the realm of possibilities to earn the contempt of others and be the butt of jokes
Compliments of Trolls Watch LLC
Rome, Georgia
Even though I know she is being a shill intentionally, and believes NOTHING she says, I can’t help but help her look stupid.
I notice that you use a lot of dog whistle/scare words and terms like “right-wing”, “white”, and “Christian Nationalist.” Those things are not necessarily bad, and if you are doing it thru habit, you need to go deeper for yourself and try to figure out what you are really saying. Look, Mexico is a Christian Nationalist country, and I don’t hear you bellowing about the Mexicans coming across the border, because they are brown Christian nationalists.
You exhibit a lot of signs of sloppy thinking, and to the extent that you are not simply a DNC shill, you should start thinking about it. Your opinions are stupidly childish and immature.
Floyd,
Well said.
That is one upside with our leftists friends who comment here on the good professor’s blog. We get insight into their mind set and how ” stupidly childish and immature” it is.
I notice that you use a lot of dog whistle….
Thats because dogs run away from Gigi, as do men, women, Gays, Lesbians, Bi, Trans chicks with and without 🍆, and Furries especially. Gigi was recently attacked by a Furry at a Furry Convention swinging a sword. Thats the type of influence Gigi provokes LOL
“Man in town for Pittsburgh furry convention accused of hotel sword attack”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-town-pittsburgh-furry-convention-210400217.html
What you call radical right wing, the rest of us call normal. The majority of Americans think pornography in elementary school libraries is wrong. The majority of Americans think the mutilation of children or chemical castration is wrong. The majority of Americans think Bidens open border policy is wrong.
Must be a constitutional amendment.
Congress does not have the power to constrain a future congress.