Is Chuck Schumer on board the #BreyerRetire bandwagon?

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) appears to have a subtle (or not-so-subtle) message for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer...and it starts with "re" and ends with "tire."

In a "Dear Colleague" letter circulated Friday morning, Schumer outlines congressional business as usual — including infrastructure, the American Rescue Plan, and voting rights legislation — until about the tenth paragraph, which he concludes by off-handedly writing, "As always, Senate Democrats stand ready to expeditiously fill any potential vacancies on the Supreme Court should they arise."

As some have been quick to point out, Schumer's suspicious close is almost certainly a hidden-in-plain-sight call for Breyer to step down.

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Breyer has faced increasing calls to vacate his position on the Supreme Court so Democrats can fill the spot before potentially losing their Senate majority in the 2022 midterms. Now, even Schumer may have climbed aboard the bandwagon.

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid is a staff writer at The Week and a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her passions include improv comedy, David Fincher films, and breakfast food. She lives in New York.