With the official retirement announcement Thursday (Jan. 27) of liberal Supreme Court Associate Justice Steven Breyer, leaders in both major political parties were already positioning themselves for what is expected to be a contentious battle over the next nominee.

Breyer, 83, has served on the court since being appointed by President Clinton in 1994 to replace Harry Blackmun, who authored the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision. Breyer has widely been considered a liberal pragmatist who rejects the originalist approach to constitutional law championed by the late conservative justice Antonin Scalia.

The high court has a 6-3 conservative majority, though conservative Chief Justice John Roberts has often taken a moderate-liberal course on social and moral issues. Breyer’s replacement isn’t likely to change the ideological composition of the court, but with justices typically serving decades, their influence is significant.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has promised urgency in confirming the nominee that President Joe Biden puts forth in the coming weeks, even suggesting a 30-day window from nomination to a Senate confirmation vote would be the aim. Schumer praised Breyer’s decisions on issues such as “women’s reproductive freedom” and the Affordable Care Act as “hugely consequential.”

Meanwhile, South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham, who led the Senate Judiciary Committee under President Trump, said via Twitter that Breyer is a “scholar and a gentleman,” but added: “As to his replacement: If all Democrats hang together—which I expect they will—they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support. … Elections have consequences, and that is most evident when it comes to fulfilling vacancies on the Supreme Court.”

Franklin Graham commented on Breyer’s retirement while calling Christians to prayer.

“‘Deliberate speed.’ Those are the words Senator Chuck Schumer used when describing how the Senate would confirm the next Supreme Court justice nomination under President Biden,” Franklin wrote. “Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to retire this year, and we need to pray for the next Supreme Court appointment.

“Many issues hang in the balance, including cases that will determine the fate of Roe v. Wade and abortion in our country. We need someone who fears God and who supports and protects the U.S. Constitution. The Bible says, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom …’ (Proverbs 9:10).”

On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden vowed to nominate the first-ever black woman to the Supreme Court. According to Business Insider, potential nominees could include Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, South Carolina federal district Judge J. Michelle Childs, and California state Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger. The Biden administration is expected to choose a nominee with strong abortion rights views.

As with several high-profile issues this session, the two centrist Democrats in the Senate—Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona—could play key roles in both the choice of a nominee and the confirmation vote. But the website fivethirtyeight.com suggests that based on the duo’s 100% “yes” votes so far on Biden’s nominees to lower federal courts, the chance they would torpedo a Biden Supreme Court nominee is slim.

Pro-life advocate Lila Rose said via Twitter: “The 14th amendment states that ‘No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’ Our constitution guarantees the right of every American to be born & live.

“There should be zero-confirmation votes from any senator who calls himself pro-life for a nominee that still backs the illogical and discredited theories put forth in Roe v. Wade.”

Photo: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States