Who will replace Stephen Breyer on the supreme court? | First Thing

Joe Biden now has the chance to act on his campaign promise to make sure a Black woman becomes one of the justices

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Good morning.

With the news yesterday that Justice Stephen Breyer will retire from the supreme court, Joe Biden now has the opportunity to not only fulfil a campaign promise, but to solidify his legacy.

CNN is reporting that Biden and Breyer are set to make a public appearance today to formally announce Breyer's retirement.

At 83, Breyer is the oldest member of the highest court in the country, one of the three liberals outnumbered by six conservatives.

Biden had promised to make sure there would be a Black woman on the supreme court if he was elected president.

Court watchers have already thrown out a number of possibilities of who Biden could nominate to take Breyer's place, including several US court of appeals judges and US district court judges, an associate supreme court justice of California and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the Legal Defense and Educational Fund at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People