We’re going to begin tonight with major news from here in nation’s capital. After nearly three decades on the supreme court, Justice S.B. is expected to retire. Sources tell CBSN that the eighty-three years old will stay on the bench for the rest of consequential term, deciding on major cases like abortion rights. And he will wait until the Senate confirms a successor. The Liberal Justice is under pressure from the left to step down while Democrats maintain control of the Senate and the White House so his replacement won’t change the ideological markup of the nation’s highest court. In recent years, B has found himself in the dissent on a bench that has moved more to the right with a six to three conservative majority. President B will now be given the opportunity to fulfill a campaign promise and appoint the first black female Supreme Court Justice.
Justice S.B. let President B know last week that he plans to retire this summer. And that’s now shifting the focus to who will replace him. The court’s most senior liberal, Justice S.B., made the decision that was widely expected, giving President B his first Supreme Court nomination and the chance to fulfill a campaign promise. The top candidates are all sitting judges, the frontrunner fifty-one-year-old federal appeals court judge K.B.J, a Harvard Law School graduate who was a law clerk for Justice S.B. Nominated in 1994 by President Clinton, S.B. has been a pragmatic Justice, a defender of civil rights, and a staunch opponent of the death penalty. Engaging and well-liked by his colleagues, he also likes to tell and listen and not intends to retire. But that was a year before Justice R.B.Ginsburg passed away, giving President T his third Supreme Court nomination. B, an ardent defender of keeping the court separate from politics, resisted a drumbeat of pressure from progressives last year that he stepped down so President B could replace him. This year, the decision, which the left hoped for, was his own.
:::tip staunch
- : steadfast in loyalty or principle. 忠诚的，坚定的
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:::tip engaging
- : tending to draw favorable attention or interest : ATTRACTIVE. 迷人的
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:::tip ardent
- : characterized by warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity. 热情的，热心的
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