Bernie Sanders says calls for Sotomayor to step down are not "sensible"

• While the senior member of the court's liberal minority is younger than the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg was when she first faced calls to step aside, Democrats are fearful of the opportunity another vacancy could offer Trump.
• Ginsburg's refusal to retire paved the way for Trump to name Amy Coney Barrett as her replacement, giving conservatives the 6-3 majority they now hold.
• He has already appointed three ideologically aligned justices to the conservative-leaning court.

Driving the news: Sanders, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," said that while he's heard "a little bit" of chatter about the idea, he does not "think that's the sensible approach."

• And it seems the justice agrees: The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that people close to Sotomayor say she has no plans to retire.

Flashback: The suggestion she should step down is not entirely new, though it faces increased urgency with the GOP potentially controlling all three facets of the federal government.

• In April, Axios' Sam Baker reported some prominent op-ed writers and law professors had said Sotomayor should step aside while Democrats still control the White House and Senate.
• But at the time — and it seems, at the current moment — lawmakers remained supportive of Sotomayor, resisting pundit and activist voices calling for retirement.
• Some also argued it would be wrong to pressure the first Latina justice to give up her historic seat on the bench.

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