Democratic committee chair pours cold water on replacing Sotomayor before Trump takes office

Talk of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor retiring and having her seat filled before President-elect Donald Trump takes office is ‘idle speculation’ and not ‘realistic,’ a top Democrat says. 

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., made the comments to Politico following reports that Democrats are discussing whether to call on the 70-year-old to vacate her seat to avoid potentially giving Trump the opportunity to replace her if she retires following his return to the White House in January. 

‘Whoever makes those calls [for a retirement] can’t count,’ Durbin told Politico. ‘Take a look at the calendar and tell me how in the world you could achieve that without setting aside the budget and the defense authorization act and all the other things that need to be done? I don’t think it’s a realistic idea.’ 

Last week, a Democratic senator also said to Politico: ‘She can sort of resign conditionally on someone being appointed to replace her. But she can’t resign conditioned on a specific person. What happens if she resigns and the nominee to replace her isn’t confirmed, and the next president fills the vacancy?’ 

Sotomayor is one of the three justices on the Supreme Court appointed by a Democratic president. 

Democrats lost their Senate majority to Republicans in the 2024 election and only have about two months left of control in the chamber. 

People close to Sotomayor recently told The Wall Street Journal that she has no plans to step aside from her position. 

‘This is no time to lose her important voice on the court. She just turned 70 and takes better care of herself than anyone I know,’ one source told the newspaper. 

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.