instagram at c-span to bj. the news -- c-span wj. the news coming yesterday, initial reports coming from in bc. there is the report on the front page of usa today. breyer to retire from high court. the decision by liberal leaning justice gives biden a chance to fulfill campaigning promise and nominate a black woman. we are joined for some insight on the news and the likely resignation of justice breyer by lauren hurley, who covers the supreme court -- lawrence hurley

who covers the super incorporate thank you for being up with us. the news is not a surprise. there has been pressure on justice breyer to retire since joe biden came into office. guest: liberal activists have been anxious about justice breyer. also, because of what happened with justice ginsburg, justice ruth bader ginsburg, who democrats wanted to retire when obama was president and she did not. ultimately, she died during the trump administration, allowing president donald trump to replace her. that helped make the court a 6-3 majority. democratics wanted breyer seat to go to a demo credit appointee. -- breyer seat to go to a democratic appointee. host: what type of justice do

you think the president will be looking for? guest: the president is a little constrained by his own campaign promise to appoint a black woman to the court. the number of eligible candidates is smaller, as a result. especially if he is looking for people who are already serving on the federal court. which is usually where presidents look. that is one issue. within the democrat party, the aspect of the moderates and the more left people. there will be some tension there as to what parts of the democratic party want. as with other biden judicial nominations so far, the

democratic party has kept together in pushing through his judges -- senate democratic party has kept together in pushing through his judges. host: what is your judgment in how quickly the president would like to get a new nominee named and get that nomination through the senate? guest: the reports are that justice breyer says he will stay on the court until the end of his term, which is in june. that gives him a little bit of time to get someone appointed. so, they have up to six months or so to get this done. there were some stories yesterday saying that democrats in the senate want to get a nomination done quickly, using the same timetable the republicans used when they pushed through the nomination of

justice barrett to replace ginsberg. there are different issues going on. once the president announces the nomination, it usually takes a while as they look at different candidates and so on. the senate will move pretty quickly. as long as nobody opposes the nomination. it should be able to -- as long as nobody opposes the nomination, it should be able to get through. host: breyer has seen some significant cases. what do you think his legacy will be? guest: i think one thing is that breyer has tenure on the court. he was in the minority at that time. the liberals had high-profile

victories at that time. justice anthony kennedy provided majorities on cases like gay marriage. he will most likely be remembered for his bow in those cases. -- vote in those cases. individually, i think he is respected by his colleagues. he voted against the death penalty, which is a view that not many other justices shared. he is a renaissance man with different interests. he will be rumored as a respected liberal. host: you mention he is likely

to retire at the end of this term. there are still some significant cases to hear and opinions to write before the end of this term, correct? guest: the cases of abortion and guns, in which the majority -- abortion rights, they may overturn roe v. wade. the new justice, serving -- assuming they get confirmed by the senate, will not change the trajectory of this course. there will still be a 6-3 majority. that will continue unless one of the conservative justices leave the court. -- leaves the court. host: thank you for being with us for the update this morning. we would like to hear from

you on your thoughts about the pending resignation of justice stephen breyer from the supreme court. we expect the announcement to happen today at the white house. we don't have a time for you. we will keep you updated as best we can. here are the lines for democrats. it is (202) 748-8000. for republicans, it is (202) 748-8001. for independents, (202) 748-8002 . the new york times carl, writing about the senate side of it. senate democrats plan to move quickly on a successor to justice breyer. senate democrats plan to move speedily to confirm president biden's nominee for the supreme court vacancy, created by the tyrant of justice stephen breyer. wallowing the lead of republicans who raced through the nominations of -- following the lead of her publicans who raced through the nomination of amy coney barrett. holding a 50 seat majority that is under severe threat, in the

senate, democrats need to act fast. particularly since the illness or death of one of their members could deprive them of their numerical advantage. president biden's nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the senate judiciary committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full united states senate with all deliberate speed. senator chuck schumer, the democrat of new york, said on wednesday, after plans for justice breyer's departure became public. jen psaki was asked a number of questions about the pending resignation. she was asked if president biden would commit to his pledge to fill that seat by nominating a black woman to the post. >> it has always been the decision of any supreme court justice, if and when they decide to retire, how they want to announce it. that remains the case today. we will not have additional details. you are welcome to ask any questions you like at any time.

there is a lot of news out there. i just wanted to say that. josh, go ahead. >> let's say, hypothetically -- [laughter] a supreme court justice was to retire and announce it on his or her own terms. it does president biden plan to honor his pledge to nominate a black woman? >> i've commented on this previously. the president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the supreme court rate certainly, he stands by that -- supreme court. certainly, he stands by that. he will not be able to say anything about any specifics until justice breyer makes any announcement. -- an announcement. host: new focus on black female judges as potential pix, the expected retirement of justice breyer puts a spotlight on a

small circle of black female jurists who are expected to be chosen as president biden's first pick to the supreme court. that shortlist could grow and is topped by judge jackson, confirmed to the u.s. kurt -- court of appeals to the d.c. circuit judge. >> legal child --

child's seized the attention of legal observers win biden nominated her last month, surprising lawyers who had anticipated a pic with local ties. let's get to our calls. your thoughts on the pending retirement of justice stephen breyer, to ollie in springfield. caller: good morning. i just had a couple of thoughts. i think what we have here is a protection of the minority judges. he has seen the politics of it with mitch mcconnell. i'm also hoping -- the lady that

you just mentioned -- what's her name? host: judge jackson. caller: that is an african name and i would like to know what that means. she is the leading contender, i guess. we are seeing more hispanic judges, female judges. this is a sign that we are not regressing but we are progressing. this is what this country can do. we don't need to go back to the old gold days of the 1950's,

where only the white caucasians are represented in the country. now, we will have four women on the bench. it is a positive thing. i am very hopeful. i am proud of this development. host: on the independent line in charleston, south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i am happy for justice breyer's hard work over the years. i am glad the president stated he was going to put a black lady

onto the united states supreme court and everything. and, you know, it is about time. they had a list of three people and everybody knew that that person was going to be competing. i know people are up in arms about it now. more than likely, one of the senators from south carolina, senator graham -- i am a black retired military guy. i know for a fact that tim scott is not going to vote for her, no matter what. because he has a line that he has to tow.

it don't matter. the supreme court is for rich people, anyway. it doesn't matter what a bunch of poor people has to say. thank you very much. host: to new york, mike on the democrats line. go ahead. caller: hey, how are you doing? can you hear me? host: yes. go ahead. helen on the democrats line. go ahead. caller: yes. i think it is wrong to put a black woman on the supreme court because it is a campaign promise. these jobs are supposed to be considered by your qualifications. and, i'm not saying a black

woman can't be the most qualified. what i'm saying is to just come out and say that, is that not reverse racism? are you not going to commit racism against a hispanic candidate or a white woman or a white man or a hispanic woman? maybe a japanese or someone of another -- we don't need to be picking these jobs by religion or race. we need to be picking them by qualifications, just like college or anything else. everything ought to be done by the qualifications. what they've done. i'm not saying a black woman can't be the most qualified. but, that is what is wrong with everything now. that is why we can't get along with regrets and republicans. because we are not breaking this down and taking people by qualifications. host: helen, that is the democrats line. the line for republicans is (202) 748-8001.

for all others, (202) 748-8002, talking about the retirement of supreme court justice stephen breyer. some perspective on what that color was pointing out, this is a piece in the washington post. biden promised a black female justice, reagan made a similar prayer -- pledge. when news broke of justice breyer retiring, the post lamented that biden limited his options by pledging to pick a black woman for the job. they talked about ronald reagan and his announcement during the campaign that he would pick a female justice. they write about the equal rights commitment, passed in 1972. at the republican convention in 1980, support for the e.r.a. was

removed from the party platform for the first time in 40 years. they wrote that at a meeting of republican women who supported the equal rights of women, it was suggested that reagan consider a woman for the supreme court, saying the single step that demonstrates his valid commitment -- vowed commitment. a few months later, at a news conference in los angeles, reagan made it official, saying i am announcing today that one of the first supreme court vacancies in my administration will be filled by the most qualified woman i can possibly find. it is time for a woman to sit among the highest jurists. let's hear from walt in new york, on the independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. how are you doing? i just got this news yesterday about briar retiring.

-- breyer retiring. i'm 62 years old. i was told in the mid 1990's that i could not fill a job working out of price -- press. i was not overqualified but i was white and they needed to hire somebody black. it is at the point now where i can help that. it had nothing to do with what happened in the 1960's. i was born but i was not of the age to do something about it. i just want to say they should hire the best person, not because of their gender or their race. it is getting out of hand. the president has not been doing anything for the country. host:.

the reporting of the scotus blog, which covers the supreme court. stephen breyer will retire at the end of the term. a devoted pragmatist, and a senior member of the supreme court's liberal wing will retire from the court, nbc news reported. amy howell writes that during a nearly 28 year career on the court, breyer shunned rigid approaches to legal interpretation, often seeking functional rulings with and i toured -- an eye toward real-world consequences. he wrote major opinions favoring abortion rights. in later years, he repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty. his retirement opens the door to joe biden to ful

there are a number of exceptional candidates. sean hannity last night called biden promise, "unconstitutional discrimination." heather cox richardson writes, "law professor stephen blagg noted representation has been wildly skewed. of the 115 supreme court justices we've had, we have had 108 whiteman, two black men, five women. four white and one latina."

anthony from lansing, illinois. democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. are we supposed to be calling about the most qualified person there is no such thing. there are qualified people and not qualified. there is most qualified. so, you know, diversity of opinions, ideas is important. the court should represent the country's makeup. that is the only fair way. host: okeechobee, florida. dee, go ahead. okeechobee, florida. you have to punch the line. go ahead with your comment, dee. caller: i wanted to talk. you mentioned biden wanting to pick a black woman for the supreme court.

you also read part of the same story from this newspaper that reagan also said he was going to pick a woman for the supreme court. there is a big difference between the two. you are talking about biden. he mentioned a race. he will take a black woman. reagan is going to pick a woman. that could be a woman of any race. host: he mentioned gender. what's the difference? caller: he picked up black while at. post: -- host: he said the type of candidate specifically, a woman in the case of justice sandra day o'connor,'s first choice. caller: there is a big difference between taking a woman. it can be any nationality, any country, and picking a black woman. specifically hunting for one black woman. host: