Liberal commentators on Sunday floated the idea of nominating failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as Democrats continue to cling to power.
Bakari Sellers, a CNN commentator and former South Carolina state representative, said progressives will increase pressure on Sotomayor, a 70-year-old Type 1 diabetic, to step down despite his resistance. He was adamant on social media that it was necessary.
“The outside mayor needs to resign.The current court is 6-3. [Her resignation] That would limit Trump's ability to go 7-2. It would be foolish to believe there is no difference,” Sellers said. I wrote it to X.
“[The Senate] Can be confirmed within 10 weeks (see ACB) [Amy Coney Barrett]). We have some very good candidates who have been previously vetted…. “Shri Srinivasan, Robert Wilkins, Michelle Childs and Kamala Harris (although she is unlikely to get Manchin's votes),” party commentators said.
Democrats enjoy control of the White House and the Senate until early January. It is unclear whether Harris, 60, would entertain the idea of her serving as a judge.
Presidents often nominate someone to the nation's highest court with experience as a judge, but this is not always the case. Some progressives have previously Thinking about former President Barack Obama Active in top coat.
“I don't want Justice Sotomayor to become another Ruth Bader Ginsburg in terms of staying in office too long,” Sellers told CNN last week, adding that her death would pave the way for a Republican replacement. He mentioned the late Justice Sotomayor.
“It is very likely that Judge Sotomayor will have to resign or retire in the next four years,” claimed a former Polish police officer.
Sotomayor is the most senior liberal justice on the court. had a medical problem in the pastwhich contains records showing that she previously traveled with a medic.
She has also publicly said that she is exhausted by the demanding workload at the Supreme Court.
The leading legal scholar has not commented publicly on the Democratic Party's pressure campaign for him to resign.
But some of her allies are supporting her.
“This is not the time to lose her important voice on the court. She just turned 70 and takes better care of herself than anyone I know,” said a source close to Sotomayor. . wall street journal.
But for at least some Democrats, the first thing that comes to mind is Ginsburg, the liberal icon who refused to resign when Democrats controlled the White House and Senate from 2009 to early 2015.
She died in September 2020, allowing then-President Donald Trump to name her replacement.
Conservatives then boosted their majority on the high court to 6-3, allowing them to overturn Roe v. Wade, among other high-profile decisions.
Progressives successfully lobbied Justice Stephen Breyer to resign in 2022.
Pressure has been mounting on Mayor Soto for some time, including before the Nov. 5 election, due to concerns that Republicans would retake the Senate.
In addition to taking back the White House, Republicans also won the Senate this time, so if Republicans appoint new judges over the next two years, Democrats won't be able to stall.
There is also uncertainty about whether Democrats will be able to take back the Senate in 2026.
“This is probably a good day for Mr. Sotomayor to retire,” said David Dayen, editor-in-chief of the left-leaning American Prospect magazine. I wrote frankly about X. After President Trump's victory last week.
Senate Democrats are internally considering how far to go to force Mayor Trump to step down before he returns to the White House to yell.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, R-Vermont, 83, has said he opposes the move.
Asked Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press” if he thought Sotomayor should resign, the senator said, “No, I don't think so.”
“I don't think that's a wise approach,” he said, but admitted he knew they were trying to get rid of her.
Sotomayor was nominated to the Supreme Court by then-President Obama in 2009. widely ranked As the most progressive member of the bench.
She has emerged as one of the court's most powerful liberal and sometimes emotional voices during contentious oral arguments. In late 2021, for example, she questioned whether the Supreme Court could “survive the stink” of overturning Roe.
Meanwhile, some Republican operatives, hoping to maintain influence over the Supreme Court, have secretly considered the longevity of conservative justices like Justice Clarence Thomas, 76, and Justice Samuel Alito, 74. are.
The Supreme Court's current term began last month.
