I had suspected that Justice Stephen Breyer had unrealistic expectations about keeping his retirement secret until he was ready to announce it. Now, with a Democratic senator confirming that Breyer told the White House… Justice Breyer, what were you thinking?
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin told reporters he received a “surprise” call on Wednesday morning from White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who “said that President Biden wanted [Durbin] to know that Stephen Breyer was about to announce his retirement from the court.”
Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Klain told him to keep the news a secret and that Breyer planned to make an official announcement on Thursday.Breyer, 83, was apparently blindsided Wednesday when the news leaked about his retirement and was widely reported by the media.
Durbin denied being the one who leaked the news.
If you’re a Supreme Court justice, the moment you tell someone, “I’m going to announce my retirement soon,” there’s a risk of it leaking. If you tell the president or his chief of staff, it is a near-guarantee that someone in the White House will soon call up someone like Pete Williams of NBC News, who attributed his report to “people familiar with [Breyer’s] thinking.”