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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
-
Sora 2 and the fear of an AI video futureIn the Spotlight Cutting-edge video-creation app shares ‘hyperrealistic’ AI content for free
-
Will Starmer’s India visit herald blossoming new relations?Today's Big Question Despite a few ‘awkward undertones’, the prime minister’s trip shows signs of solidifying trade relations
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
