(IntegrityTimes.com) – Top Senate Democrats have declined to join the activist wing of their Party that is calling for Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire from the United States Supreme Court. Some have finally begun expressing concerns that a similar situation as what occurred in 2020 when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died during the Trump administration. His appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett tipped the Court to the right. In 2014, Ginsburg was 81 years old and had survived cancer when some felt she should retire. She refused to entertain the idea and served on the Court for six more years until her death.
Barrett’s appointment led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. While Sotomayor is only 69, she has suffered from diabetes for most of her life. According to NBC News, she “remains an active questioner during Supreme Court arguments” and has not indicated in any setting that she is planning to retire. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was the most vocal about his concerns that the Court could shift even further to the right if Sotomayor does not retire, but he did not suggest that she retire.
Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse declined to join other voices who have urged lawmakers to call for her retirement. Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono, downright rejected to call on the justice to end her tenure. Ninety-year-old Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said that the decision to retire was personal, just like when he decided to run for reelection in 2022. Left-leaning outlets have published opinion pieces from radical leftists who are foaming at the mouth for President Biden to be able to appoint another justice to the Court. White House Spokesman Andrew Bates said that Biden believes that retirement decisions should only be made by the person who is considering retiring. Even if President Biden wins reelection and Sotomayor decides to retire before the end of his second term, Republicans could block the confirmation of a justice if they regain control of the Senate in November.
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