*Editor’s note: At the time of publication, Breyer had not officially announced his retirement. Shortly following the publication of this article, Breyer announced his retirement. Read more here.

Supreme court justice Stephen Breyer has announced that he is retiring at the end of the current judicial term. Liberal Democrats have been encouraging Breyer’s retirement since Joe Biden was elected president, in hopes that a new, young justice could take the stand.

Breyer is the oldest justice at 83, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton. His term should end in either June or July of this year, which is before the midterm elections that will likely result in a loss of the Democratic majority in both the Senate and the House.

During the 2020 Democratic primaries, then-presidential candidate Biden promised to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Since Breyer has decided to retire, Biden now has a chance to fulfill this promise and score a victory for a deeply unpopular president before his party’s midterms.

As Breyer steps down, he leaves a court with a large conservative majority, with three of former president Donald Trump’s nominees currently serving on the Court. As of right now, the court has a 6-3 balance of conservative judges and liberal judges. In the past two years alone, the highest court in the nation has heard a large number of controversial legal problems, including guns, abortion, and religion. 

Breyer had been under pressure from progressives for months in hopes that Democrats could choose a new appointment to protect the liberal wing of the Court. During the Obama administration, former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg faced similar pressure to retire, but ultimately declined to do so, leading to the confirmation of Donald Trump’s third nomination in his four years as president.

The Supreme Court Justice had originally resisted calls for him to retire, but has apparently changed his position. President Biden did not comment on Breyer’s reported departure, telling reporters on Wednesday, “Every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and say on their own.”

Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) said in a statement released on Wednesday that “[Breyer] embodies the best qualities and highest ideals of American justice: knowledge, wisdom, fairness, humility, restraint.” 

Schumer also added that Biden’s nominee to succeed Breyer “will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed.”

DC Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger have both been named as potential successors. If Biden holds true on his campaign promise and his nominee is confirmed by the Senate, the new Justice will make history as the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice.