Biden to get Supreme Court pick as liberal justice Breyer ‘to retire’

Along with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mr Breyer opted not to step down the last time the Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Stephen Breyer is set to retire (Steven Senne/AP)

Liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is to retire, giving President Joe Biden an opening he has pledged to fill by naming the first black woman to the US’s highest court, sources have said.

Mr Breyer, 83, has been a pragmatic force on a court that has grown increasingly conservative in recent years, trying to forge majorities with more moderate justices right and left of centre.