Following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, calls have resurfaced for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire to prevent Trump from potentially filling another court vacancy.
Sotomayor, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, is the first Latina and the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court. At 70, she is the oldest Democrat-appointed justice on the Court which has a 6-3 conservative supermajority.
In light of Trump winning the 2024 presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris, calls for Sotomayor to retire so that President Joe Biden, with support from a Democrat-majority Senate, would have enough time to appoint a new justice have recirculated on social media.
Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court's public information office via an online form for comment on Thursday.
On election night, Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, posted on X, formerly Twitter, "Sotomayor should retire tomorrow and let the lame duck Senate confirm her replacement."
A lame-duck session refers to the final months of a president's term after the presidential successor is elected in November but before a new Congress convenes in early January. Biden leaves office on January 20, giving the administration just over two months to nominate and confirm a justice.
David Dayen, editor of The American Prospect echoed the same sentiments, writing on Wednesday, "This would probably be a good day for Sotomayor to retire."
The renewed push stems from concerns that Trump, elected as the next U.S. president on Wednesday, along with the newly Republican-majority Senate, could appoint a conservative-leaning justice, further tipping the Court to the right.
In April, calls circulated with several opinion pieces and posts urging Sotomayor to retire, including journalist Mehdi Hasan, who just reshared his article yesterday with the caption, "I happen to think this piece of mine aged (sadly!) pretty well."
In the piece, he notes what many Trump opponents fear: a repeat of what happened with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 87, just weeks before President Biden won the 2020 election.
At that time, then-President Trump, nominated Justice Amy Coney Barrett to fill the late Ginsburg's seat on the court, pushing the court further right. During his first presidency, Trump also appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
However, Bloomberg reporter Steven Dennis noted the close Senate margins, "If Sotomayor quit tomorrow, who would replace her? Reminder the Senate is 51-49." The question points to what happened in the months ahead of Trump's first election.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The then Republican-led Senate delayed the confirmation until his nomination expired, leaving the seat open for Trump to fill.
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