you remember the day you went off and saw justice whatever it was and told him it was about time maybe he step down? he had done a great job? he said i do remember, and a work, i have never done. we all go gaga at once? we want. it will become apparent to me, as it does to people as they get older, that this seems to be about the right time, and there we are, and that is the most i can say. we are grateful to have heady for this time. ladies and gentlemen, justice stephen breyer. thank you, sir. appreciated. [applause] >> on capitol hill this week, the house is still in recess without members continued their district work period through

labor day. the senate is in session with federal pending bills on the spend. spoke with a capitol hill reporter. >> jack fitzpatrick, congress reporter with bloomberg government, covering spending and budget issues. a main reason the senate is shortening the recess is 2019 spending. how much does mitch mcconnell hope to get done? jack: next week, they hope to pass a significant budget, the two biggest spending bills that cover defense appropriations and spending for labor, health, and human services, and education. if they can do that in one fell swoop, that's 70% of all federal discretionary spending. they are also working. the senate has passed a total of seven other bills. they want to say, by the end of the year, september 30, that they had passed nine of the 12 bills. they will not get absolutely

everything done in time for the technical end of the fiscal year. they will need a continuing resolution for a few bills and leave some of the contentious issues has to the election in november. next week, we might actually see some progress in the senate, putting forward those two big bills, of which defense is the top priority for republicans. labor, hhs, and education are the top priority for democrats. it would be a big step forward if they could move on past that and work on reconciling that what they have. >> the total package, what issues do you expect will johnny -- will draw the most floor debate attention. what are you looking for in both areas? jack: in the defense area. first, these are both bipartisan bills, at least on the senate

side, they're pretty confident they can move them forward. all they do attract a lot of amendments. on the defense side, he can get parochial. for example, the white house has criticized that the senate appropriators give them more money they wanted for navy combat ships. they ask for funds for one, the senate included money for two. those are built in wisconsin, and now tammy baldwin has an amendment that would add enough money for a third. that is a significant issue. another is the ongoing debate over where the army futures command center, which would be set for austin texas, would actually get funded. that is still in question. the labor hhs portion of this tends to really attract some more contentious issues although, senators have avoided

them. it has always started a debate over abortion policy. rand paul has offered an amendment that would defund planned parenthood company stopping any funds to be used. it is already illegal, but there is any debate over whether they brought in the restrictions and stop any money from going to groups like planned parenthood. this does fund teen pregnancy grants, although the house wants to cut those in the white house has said they want to eliminate those grants. there has been debate on the house side that got chippy on immigration things. related to hhs facilities for children taken from their parents. we have not seen any amendments on the senate side that relate to that, and it has not turned into a fight. they are very focused on moving us forward and not getting into

tough policy issues. as they work on sending something to the president's desk on the hhs side, those detention facilities are a pretty sticky issue. pretty sticky issue. that could come up, if not now, then when they work with the house. >> some of your reporting at bloomberg government has a headline that says "massive deal on the horizon for the senate." you write that they are trying to work things out. are the colleagues cooperating? jack: so far, they have. there is no sign they are going to drop that plan. both of these bills got out of committee by 30-1 votes. and nobody, including the democrats, and this is where they have the most leverage, has

said no, drop everything. that they will start the fight over contentious issues. i would not be surprised if they move forward swiftly, despite the fact i'm sure there will be plenty of amendment offered. these have a lot of bipartisan support. for this bill, the question is how do they match this with what the house has done. the house gave less money by about $2 billion to the labor hhs education bill. also, what does the white house view? it is possible that trump wants to start a fight over border wall funding. they do have complaints that relate to these bills. do they compromise, or to the conservatives in the white house push for change that would make this less bipartisan? those are the big questions that come up after the senate manages to pass the bill.

>> well, we'll keep an eye on your reporting. jack fitzpatrick covering corporations and government issues for bloomberg government at bgov.com thanks for the update. >> c-span, or history unfold daily. in 1979, c-span was created by america's television companies pay today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to by your cable or satellite provider. announcer: this week on q&a, historian john ferling.