Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has no plans to resign despite calls from some Democrats to do so before Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate in January.
The 70-year-old Sotomayor, nominated by then-President Barack Obama in 2009, is the oldest Democrat-appointed justice on the court. She’s also a life-long diabetic.
It was reported last week that Democrat U.S. senators and other party members were discussing whether to convince Sotomayor to resign so President Joe Biden can replace her with another leftist judge before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
“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,” one person close to Sotomayor told The Wall Street Journal.
Even before all the states had been called during Tuesday night’s election, some Democrats were suggesting that Biden be given the chance to nominate one more Supreme Court justice.
“Sotomayor should retire tomorrow and let the lame duck Senate confirm her replacement,” Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, posted Tuesday night on X.
“This would probably be a good day for Sotomayor to retire,” David Dayen, editor of The American Prospect, wrote on X.
Many Democrats remember Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020 at age 87. Ginsburg had resisted calls from liberals to step down in the early 2010s while President Barack Obama and the Democrats were in power.
After Ginsburg died, Trump nominated Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was approved by a GOP-controlled Senate shortly before Democrats captured both the chamber and the White House.
Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer stepped down at age 83 soon after Biden and Senate Democrats took over in 2021. He was replaced by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The Journal reported that some conservatives have suggested Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel Alito, 74, might retire before the 2026 midterm elections.
“Prediction: Justice Sam Alito is gleefully packing up his chambers,” Mike Davis, a conservative legal activist close to Trump, said on X after Tuesday’s election.