supreme court. his legacy includes his work as a s leading scholar and jurist and bringing his brilliance to bear to make government run more efficiently. it includes his stature as a beacon of wisdom on our constitution and what it means. and through it all justice breyer has worked tirelessly to give faith to the notion that the law exists to help the people. everyone knows stephen breyer has been exemplary. courteous to his colleagues, careful in his reasoning he put landmarks opinions on topics ranging from reproductive rights to laws protecting our environment and laws to protect our religious practices. his opinions are practical, sensible and nuanced reflecting a belief that the job of the judge is notto lay down a rule but to get it right . justice breyer's law clerks and colleagues described him and his work ethic, his desire to learn more. his kindness to those around him and his optimism to the promise of our country . and he has patiently sought common ground and build consensus to keep

president's president to better inform his understanding and the public debate over whether the supreme court needed reform in the first place and over which types of reforms are the ones best whatever problems one might identify with the way the court currently operates. robert: judge griffith, go to one of those right away which was the idea of adding new members, more members to the supreme court. the court as membership has varied over the years, but for more than 100 years it's been set at nine. can you tell us about the discussion that the commission had on this issue? judge griffith: we had public hearings and then we -- where we invited experts from around the country to speak to the issue. then we had public meetings where we discussed it amongst ourselves. the issue amongst ourselves. as cristina pointed out, our mandate was not to resolve the issue. was not to come up with recommendation whether the state is -- or the court should be expanded. our mandate was to describe the nature of the debate so that the president would be better informed about what was at stake in the debate. o

the supreme court is one. i think the president should have a much broader commission on constitutional democracy and reform and study that. >> very good. i hope i haven't had too short. i know, kara, you have questions. >> i will try to put them together for you will, how about that? there are questions about whether specific reforms were addressed by the commission or perhaps what your opinions are of them. the thing is -- a super majority vote for confirmation of justices, like a two thirds requirement perhaps or and or, i guess that would be a mandatory retirement age, and perhaps another -- if not those kinds of reforms for jurisdiction stripping. >> i will speak to that. age limits, determine limits working group to consider age limits and we decided they were not as good. because they will give you a finite term, but they will not read regular eyes appointments in the way that we thought was pretty important if you are trying to equalize the influence the presidents have on the court. jurisdiction strip

the idea of adding new members, more members to the supreme court. the court's membership has varied over the years, but for more than 100 years it has been set at nine. can you tell us about the discussion at the commission had on this issue? >> we had public hearings and then we invited experts from around the country to speak to the issue. as christina pointed out, her mandate was not to solve the issue which is not to come up with a recommendation whether the court should be expanded, it was to describe the nature of the debate. so that the president be better informed. we are not so much the pros and cons of expansion or keeping the court of this size that it has been for so long, but how do you describe that debate? have to say this, i am one of the political conservatives who made this a bipartisan commission. the final report is not exactly how i would have written it. it was the work of 34 people working together. there is always compromise. what i think is the most striking feature of the report and i don't think it's got enough attention, i

supreme court. and how the current makeup might impact pending cases. you're watching live coverage here on c-span. robert: cristina rodriguez who was co-chair of the commission. judge griffith, professor rodriguez, welcome to "washington post" live. cristina: thanks for having us. judge griffith: hi, cristina. cristina: good to see you. robert: old friends getting back together again, i see. professor rodriguez, would you start us off, please, and tell us the impetus for this committee and sort of the, i guess, unusual mandate that you had, which was not really to make recommendations to the president. cristina: the committee was effectively making good on a campaign promise that then candidate joe biden made during an interview when asked about the prospects for the supreme court reform, he said that he would form a committee in order to study those ideas. the committee was set up not to make recommendations. but to van cass as wide a range of views as possible in order to provide an actual analys

more supreme court justices come from that court than any other. president biden nominated judge childs to be for the court of appeals in december and as luck would happen her confirmation hearing was scheduled before the severe news is today that justin -- justice stephen breyer will retire at the end of the supreme court's term in the early summer. tuesday's hearing will be in effect, a full dressed rehearsal for the supreme court confirmation hearing of judge michel child's, if president obama nominates her to the supreme court at the end of february, which is the timetable that the president announced today for his big decision. the hearing will also show us whether any other nominee the president might choose will be subjected to in these senate judiciary committees. judge chiles might be able to actually win the supreme court job next tuesday by delivering a stellar performance and what will be her second confirmation hearing as a federal judge. the other person at the top of the white house list to replace justice breyer has already been thr

code of ethics for supreme court. but mostly i would say what people focused on and probably rightly so is term limits and court expansion. >> how did you find it? anythingles -- anything else you want today mention as a key take away? >> no, i think on court expansion and term limits, the term limits about the constitutional amendments, but i thought that the other materials were interesting in the confirmation process. specifically and there was a range of ideas focused primarily on expansion and trade limits and did a good job of some other proposals. >> for a lot of people, maybe for those who are commissioners, the commission's charged undually limited and frustrating and did not actually call for recommendations. do either of you feel that this sort of hampered the inquiry? so, well, i think that if we just start with the problem to which the commission would give a response. last five years which changed the competition of the court quickly and might be considered-- continues to be a very conservative court that

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 19

supreme court and judge stephen f. williams on the d.c. court of appeals. our other expert is julie otsuka, professor of law at fordham university school of law and an interdisciplinary and comparative legal scholar researching equality at the intersection of law, history, sociology, and politics in the united states and globally. she's authored dozens of articles and books and chapters in books about comparative constitutional law, about the procedural implementation of equality norms in the united states and europe. gender quotas and women, work, and family. julie received her doctorate in politics from oxford university where she held a marshall scholarship where she studied in the fellowship for new americans. following law school, she clerked for judge harry t. edwards in the d.c. circuit. provided written testimony to the presidential commission on the supreme court of the united states, and julie, i thoroughly enjoyed reading the testimony, which i thought was fascinating in terms of the comparative aspects you brought up. so let's get into the discu

now you have a supreme court confirmation fight. steve notes republicans are aware this will not change the balance of the court. so maybe it's not quite the energy and the fury, but mitch mcconnell relishes these moments. democrats will recoil at my saying it that way. but lay out the landscape for us. >> reporter: this will be a huge fight out of the ideological balance of the court and the president has a very good chance of getting his nomination confirmed. if they keep all their members in line they can get vice president kamala harris to break a tie. and joe manchin himself has voted for conservative nominees and more liberal nominees. he has been the key swing vote all year long in this 50/50 senate. he did vote for two of president trump's nominees, brett kavanaugh, neil gorsuch, amy coney barrett. he supported other justices in the past. there is still a very good possibility they can get him onboard. he tends to support nominees put forward by a president for other judicial positions. but this is a confirmation process. it

i believe there were some complaints about the use of the term "share a docket," which the supreme court is using more and more to the oral arguments. what is your reaction is a member of the commission? >> yeah, so, sometimes a term is used by people who owned expanding the court. i think that is the term that's been raised largely because i think increasingly, those who favor expanding the court think the court has already been packed. it's been kind of interesting to see the shift. with regard to the shadow docket , in general, there's something tied up with a much larger issue of how we control the supreme court jurisdiction, over a range of matters. whether we should be considering even mandatory jurisdictions over certain matters. so i don't know. i think shadow docket is an appropriate term. most americans don't think about or know about this regard. they don't realize they are not briefed in the same way or they are not treated in the same way procedurally. >> it is a relatively new term to have been coined in the not-too-distant past. people are definitely beginning to figure ou

so i better do it now. >> often supreme court, not always, but often retirements, departures from the courts are announced at the end of the court'sno term typically in jun. justice breyer did a political favor to the white house by announcing that he would retire in june but making the announcement now so they could start to work on his successor. i wonder if that means that the white house was sort of right in terms of how they tried to temper so many calls from the leftte and from commentators an gadflies and progressive groups trying tove push the justice to retire thinking that my harden his resolve to stay. i wonder what your view is of the decision on the typing and the sort of courtesy to the white house, the political courtesy of giving them a few months more than they might have otherwise had. >> well, i think ron klain, the white house chief of staff, justice byron white's retirement letter, and he followed him with him, at the time of the clinton white house,hi he called him ov and he said, here, i want you to take this to the president, and i think that was in february, b

she serves on the california supreme court. judge jackson of d.c. t of appeals i believe a biden appointment. michelle childs, u.s. district court in south carolina. leslie abrams gardner serving in georgia. ifill, former naacp legal defense funds. are these the names that you are hearing? >> i think it's fair to acknowledge one stands higher than the others and that's judge ketanji brown jackson. >> there's a growing sense in the senate and i was somebody that felt this way. there's no reason in the world that every supreme court justice has to graduate from yale or harvard. there's plenty of smart lawyers that go to law schools all over this country and something weird that the country has decided there's only two schools that produce supreme court justices so i know there are other senators that felt the way i did about that and might be nice to have a supreme court justice that wasn't harvard or yale and so i think some of those feelings will probably come to the surface as the white house considers who they pick but all are qualified and will be

and the race to a new supreme court justices on. tting his final nominee. amy cohen barrett, remember her? on to the court in just 27 days, instead of the typical 60 days plus. the buzzword today among democratic senate leadership, was expeditious. they've already begun strategizing their next moves. and one democrat on the judiciary committee has this message for republicans. >> we are prepared to fight, make no mistake. we are prepared to fight ferociously. and use all of the options that we have to get this job done. it is a job that will get done. this nominee will be confirmed. this afternoon, justice breyer appeared with the president at the white house to formally announce his retirement.

circuit court of appeals, considered aaa, before you get to the supreme court. numerous justices on the bench now came through the court. she's viewed as highly intelligent, very qualified, and sitting on that court has given her even more of addition to her resume, that's where you go before you end up at the supreme court for many justices. i think justice krueger from the california supreme court, another woman of intellect, and often seen as a swing vote, who does build compromise. again, she's clearly, the president is only going to pick someone who he thinks lines up with his judicial philosophy, but might have more appeal to those concerned who call themselves moderates, give me somebody who is a consensus builder, potential swing vote, and so i think i would keep my eye on those two in the coming days. i don't think there is any way the president can back off the pledge to the voters that he would select an african american woman so it gives us a more narrow focus on who the nominees might be. >> shannon bream joining us on the breaking news. thank you ve

the supreme court is topic number one.ons committee and involved in negotiations in the senate about a potential package of sanctions against russia because of the standoff with ukraine. the united states and nato allies submitted some written responses to russian questions about where we might have some negotiations. the kremlin spokesman said it cannot be said our considerations were taken into account. whether any willingness to take into account our concerns was demonstrated. you see a pessimistic view from the russian perspective. that because the united states would not concede what russia wants to say that ukraine would never be allowed into nato. what is your sense of this moment? do you agree with the white house take that an invasion could be imminent, and how quickly will the senate have a package of sanctions? >> i believe the threat is very real and can happen at any time based on the information that i've seen. i co-led a delegation last week with senator rob portman from ohio to ukraine. we met with presiden

i would like to see a woman get nominated to the supreme court. need more woman on the court so badly, so roe v. wade doesn't get overturned. there are so many woman -- i saw the list on cnn online about the list of women biden is considering. any one of them will be perfect for the job. we need a woman on the courts. that is all i have to say. host: in alexandria, minnesota, marlene on the independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i believe we should have term limits on our supreme court. also, i wish all of the people on the supreme court would go by the constitution and not by the way that they feel personally. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: next is john in wilson, north carolina. caller: good morning. i think the worst thing about the supreme court is the ethics. i am surprised you have not had issue about prince thomas. it is all over the news and very important. she is a supporter to the big lie, and that is his wife. clarence thomas is the only one who voted against hiving donald trump's records rele

and especially supreme court picks.and so over the next month, they are going to be asking the white house, who were you thinking on for the supreme court? you are not going to be talking about build back better. we are going to be in a national thrall about who is going to be the next supreme court pick. >> justice stephen breyer's impending retirement could be a lifeline for the democrats in the coming midterms. and with another poll, this one from monmouth, showing biden's approval ratings underwater, at 39%, it could give democrats a much needed boost back. eugene robinson, of the washington post is back with us, and mike murphy, co-director of the center for political future at the university of southern california. he also hosts, hacks on tap the podcast. you agree, eugene, with president obama's former chief of staff, jim messina, that the supreme court pick is an opportunity to change the conversation ahead of the midterms? >> it absolutely it is. and it gives them oh win. because this will end up as a win for p

we still have only nine supreme court justices. let's go to district courts.istrict courts need federal judges, too. we have 679, right? guest: i think it's fascinating, and you have a good understanding of history, when it relates to numbers. i would encourage you, if you want to know more, we didn't -- didn't episode on the judicial branch, and we spoke to a solicitor general who was an advocate in the supreme court about the history of the supreme court. what is most interesting, is how it has massive. -- it has gotten massive. there is nothing in the constitution that says there should be a specific number of justices. there is only a chief justice. it doesn't say about the specific roles. the supreme court in particular is fascinating because it was a branch that our framers considered the weakest. it had neither the power of the sword. it is pathetic and cannot do anything. they used to meet in a basement. they did not have their own building, back in the day. it has grown. these justices throughout the years, and the power of the supreme court since the

follows supreme court decisions. he didn't want the timing of his retirement to be seen as something political. apparently he's decided that enough time has past that's not going to bow a concern now. there was enormous pressure on him and has been since president biden was elected, especially after the death of ruth bader ginsburg, which gave donald trump a chance to appoint amy coney barrett to the court. there was lots of pressure on breyer to step down, despite the fact he's in good health, so his successor could be chosen while there's still a democrat in the white house and a democratic control of the u.s. senate. the fact is that whatever -- whether that is the reason he's stepping down or not, that is the consequences what it will be. in order to give the democrats a chance a keep the current 6-3 split on the court, conservatives and liberals with justice stephen breyer being the senior on the court against the six conservatives. our understanding is that his intention is to step down at the end of the suprem

as a candidate, biden vowed to nominate the first black woman to the supreme court. in the court's history, there have only been four female justices and two black justices. on wednesday, white house press secretary jen psaki was asked about biden's plans. >> i have commented on this previously. the president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the supreme court and certainly stand by that. for today, again, i'm just not going to be able to say anything about any specifics until, of course, justice breyer makes any announcement should he decide to make an announcement. amy: the names of several possible nominees have already been floated, including ketanji brown jackson, a u.s. appeals court judge who once served as a law clerk for breyer, leondra kruger, a california supreme court justice, michelle childs, a u.s. district court judge in south carolina, and sherrilyn ifill, a civil rights attorney who heads the naacp legal defense and educational fund. vice president kamala harris has also been mentioned as a possible nominee. to ta

that court is often seen as a feeder for the supreme court. econd is leondra cuei kruger. she's argued dozens of cases before the court but has not been as thoroughly vetted. we know with the midterms looming time is of the essence here. there's a longer list including mimi wright, second circuit court of appeals judge lee and interestingly michelle childs, a south carolina judge pushed by house majority chip james clyburn. in the 2020 campaign clyburn gave biden what was at the time a much-needed endorsement after he vowed to nominate a black woman. here the pred has a lot of options. time is of the essence soap the fact that judge brown jackson has been vetted, that very much weighs in her favor. they can't afford any delays as at least five gop lawmakers have said they plan to block any nominee from the biden white house if they retake the majority in november. >> jeffrey, of those names, who do you think would be the most likely person to be confirmed? >> ketanji jackson. no question. she fits all the requirements starting with the most imp

c., judge jackson's 51 years old and, like so many supreme court justices before her, including the current -- she is a graduate of harvard college -- judge jackson received three republican votes from the current senate last year in her senate confirmation to the circuit court, the 53 senate votes in her favor of her confirmation included republican senators lindsey graham, susan collins, and lisa murkowski. and there is no rational reason for the vote count to be any different if the president nominates her to the supreme court. so, there is no safe -- for senate confirmation in the current senate, in this 50/50 senate, then judge cut andriy brown jackson. that is surely what's all of president biden's advisers will agree on. but once again, they will have to reckon with the advice of congressman clyburn, who endorsed joe biden after the south carolina debate and with that crucial endorsement, joe biden won the south carolina primary in a landslide. and with the momentum from that win, joe biden went on to win almost every other primary on his way to becoming president of the united state

and he told george stephanopoulos he looked forward to life after the supreme court. >> there are many different considerations and -- that i do not intend to die there on the court, i hope not. and i'm thinking about them, considering them and that's as far as i'll go. >> and he's earned this retirement. we remember that interview with george. terry with us tonight. and you remembered there justice breyer spoke of respect for his fellow justices regardless of their differing viewpoints. he believed that the court obviously should be apolitical. he talked about this over his 27 years on the court. but he also certainly knows the magnitude of this decision, the timing of this decision, just howdy vildivided this nation is. >> reporter: that's right, david, and those divisions central tio the timing of this division. justice breyer is trying to give president biden and senate democrats as much time as possible to choose and to confirm his successor. david? >> terry moran leading us off from the supreme court. terry, thank you. >>> and you heard the president there say very little today,

yamiche: president biden gets a supreme court pick. president biden: the person i will nominate will be the first black woman ever nominated to the united states supreme court. yamiche: justice steven breyer announces his retirement. and president biden vows his replacement will make history. >> i'm going to give the president nominee whoever that may be a fair look. yamiche: setting the stage for a nate debate ahead of the midterms. plus -- >> we're acting with equal focus and force to bolster ukraine's defenses and prepare a swift united response to further russian aggression. yamiche: tensions over russia and ukraine intensify. next. announcer: this is "washington week." corporate funding is provided b. additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams, koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities, sardinha and carl delay-magnuson, rose hirschel and andy shreeves. robert and sues be rosen palm. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions t

so, i have to do it now. >> often, the supreme court -- our announced at the close of the court's term, so that would be, usually, in june. justice breyer actually did do a political favor to the white house by announcing that he would retire in june, but making the announcement now so they could start to work on his successor. i wonder if that means that the white house was sort of right in terms of how they tried to temper so many calls from the left and from commentators and dad flies and progressive roots, really trying to push justice breyer to retire. thinking that that might hardened his resolve to stay. i wonder what your view is of his decision on the timing and the sort of courtesy to the white house, the political courtesy of giving them a few months than they might have otherwise had. >> well, i think the white house chief of staff posted some pictures on twitter today with an envelope which was byron white's retirement letter claimed that -- he called him over -- in the clinton white house -- he called him over and he said, here, i want you to take this -- and i think that

i like to call this supreme court fan fiction in which a lot of people who have ideas about, you know, who could be on the court throw them out regardless of whether they are feasible, which is not to say that vice president harris is not qualified. it's not to say that maybe she might even want to be on the court but the reality is, in washington, there is a 50/50 split in the united states senate. she is the tie breaking vote. there's really no guarantee that someone who is very clearly a political figure would be able to get through that process. that's just the reality and i do think that while there are a lot of permutations of her being on the court and other people maybe stepping in as v.p. that might be interesting to people particularly online. the map in the united states senate does not work for that realistically speaking. the biden administration is probably looking for someone who they know can get 50 votes and who they know can get 50 votes plus potentially some from the other side. there are people being considered who they think that is possible for. i think that's wh

this would pea the first conformation in the supreme court justice in the history in a 50/50 equally divided senate. at the south carolina presidential debate, under pressure from congressman clyburn, biden promised to nominate a black woman to the court. >> i'm looking forwardo making sure there's a black woman on the supreme court. that we in fact get every representation. >> also this hour a massive escalation in russia's front line mobilization. war ships in the black sea, tanks rolling across the frozen tundra. multi-front threat sending shock waves through the european capitols. ers and in a letter to the russians proposals for a diplomatic off ramp but a flat rejection of vladimir putin's call of sweeping reversal 06 nato's expansion. and economy rebounded, fuelling more concerns about inflation and a promised fed tightening. i'll talk to someone who's been warning about that since last spring, larry summers and former economic advisor to president obama. and we start with stephen breyer. and we're joined by a former law clerk of justice breyer and at the university of law and

supreme court. kruger, a former justice department lawyer, has argued several cases before the u.s. supreme court. the white house tonight brushing off speculation that president biden might nominate vice president harris >> the president has every intention, as he said before, of running for re-election and running for re-election with vice president harris on the ticket as his partner. >> reporter: the pick will not change the balance of the conservative court but for president biden, with inflation soaring, his agenda stalled, and poll numbers sinking, it's a chance for a much needed political win >> peter, is the white house giving any indication about how quickly the president will move on a decision >> reporter: yeah, lester people familiar with the process tell nbc news that president biden will try to put forward a nominee quickly. it is something the president has thought about since before taking office. even during the transition, top advisers gave him formal presentation about the best p

from the supreme court. the president reiterated his pledge to pick a black woman for the vacancy and he said he would announce his nominee by the end of february. egin by recognizing both dr. breyer and dr. biden and being here. this is a bittersweet day for me. president biden: i am here today to express the nation's to justin stephen breyer -- justice stephen breyer for his remarkable career in public service and his commitment to making the country's laws work for its people. our gratitude extends to his family for being partners the country owes you as well. stephen breyer's public service started early. he served in the u.s. army as a teenager and in all three branches of the federal government before he turned 40. the good old days. a clerk to supreme court justice goldberg, a prosecutor in the department of justice, a member of the watergate prosecution team. >> he served in all three branches of the government before he turned 40. and as he was a law clerk, a prosecutor in the department of justice,

why not have two african americans on the virginia supreme court? so i put an african american on and broadened who was on the court. and so i think that the identity issues one day and the future of our country may not be so important, but we still have so many institutions that don't really look like the population of our country looks. and that's why i know that president biden wants a court that really is more reflective of who we are as a nation. >> what are some issues that you would like to see dealt with that aren't the ones we always deal with with supreme court nomination, usually precedent, abortion is usually front and center, maybe the role of federal government, sort of the larger philosophical role of the federal government versus the states. whaems is something you'd like the get at here? and do you see a distinction between potential nominees that are interesting to you? you have one person who's not ivy league at all. is that something you think the president should consider? what else are you seeing? >> here's some things that inte

supreme court. justice stephen breyer expected to retire, paving the way for the president to nominate his replacement. >> there has been no announcement from justice breyer. let him make whatever statement he's going to make. i'll be happy to talk about it later. >> reporter: biden now getting the opportunity to fulfill this 2020 campaign promise. >> i'm looking forward to making sure there's a black woman on the supreme court to make sure -- >> i committed that if i'm elected president, have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, i'll appoint the first black woman to the courts. >> we are putting together a list of a group of african american women who are qualified and have the experience to be in the court. >> reporter: the white house reiterating today biden's position on this front remains unchanged. >> the president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that. >> reporter: the upcoming nomination and confirma

supreme court. you were learning new details such as, may be by summer or the end of the current term? >> yes, at the end of the current term appears that's when justice breyer will officially step down, they could be the end of june or early july, it depends on when the high court finishes its docket. but we just found out this news in the last 15 minutes or so about the 83-year-old justice to retire, and already, u.s. senators are sending out press releases into inboxes. i'm reading one from patty murray, the democratic senator from washington state, calling on president biden to move forward to appointing the a black woman to the high court. some of the other names as kaylee atomic kayleigh mentioned, we've not heard any mention of vice president, irs or any official appointment but some other names mentions, judge cuts cut tonja brown jackson, also lee andre kruger. >> harris: they have put out notices from lawmakers, are those letters on the record or are these just being talked about? >> they

about recently and it's about to be plenty hot for biden's first lifetime nomination to the high supreme court. senator schumer vowing to vote in record speed, the high court took under a month for the trump nomination to go to confirmation. now as for the court's direction going from a clinton appointee to back in the day to biden appointee would not be an automatic swing in the competition of the court. that's a contrast to what we know about that can happen with replacements. take, for example, when trump replaced the pick justice ginsburg which moved the court immediately to the right. here's the other thing, biden 2022 could still be a long ways from clinton 1994. biden has a liberal democratic party coalition that is really a long way from what clinton was doing with a centrist party in the '90s. then you have recent history, republicans used raw power to shape the high court with donald trump axies getting three lifetime justices on the court during one term. but many want biden to promote a visionist liberal justice now, scalia from the left, and existential challenges for america on c

and he passionately insisted the supreme court is not a political institution. >> my experience of more than 30 years in the appeals court as a judge has shown me that once men and women take the judicial oath, they take that oath to heart. they are loyal to the rule of law. not to the political party that helped secure their appointment. >> reporter: among breyer's most important cases, upholding abortion rights by striking down a nebraska law that prohibited late-term abortions. limiting presidential powers over recess appointments. and expanding students' free speech rights by ruling that a cheerleader's offcampus snapchat post deserves first amendment protection. genial and confident, justice breyer admitted to larry king in 2010 that he was once wracked by self-doubts on the bench. >> i do know my own first three years, i was frightened to death much of the time. >> of? >> how do i know i can do this? how do i know i won't make a mistake? i will do my best, but there's no one to correct it, necessarily. >> reporter: in recent years, progressives worried that, like justice ruth bade

on the supreme court. thirteen years he sat on the u.s. court of appeals for first circuit. he served eight years before that member of the army reserves and of course members office chamber cannot forget he was once part of the senate itself serving as an eight on the judiciary committee where he worked closely with our dear friend from a late senator ted kennedy. every step of the way he remained is essential self, decent, brilliant and dedicated to our democracy. with his new vacancy on the court, president biden will have the opportunity history by nominating the first ever black woman to serve on the supreme court. i'm confident the president will select an outstanding individual to fill justice breyer's seat. we intend to move quickly on our constitutional duty to act on the nominee went announced. i can assure all senators the senate will have a fair process that moves quickly so we can confirm president biden psalmody to fill justice breyer's seat as soon as possible. today members office chamber say thank you to justice breyer for his lifetime of public service. now

state supreme court court, now district court. go through every one of those women who have been named as potential nominees and sing their praises based on their intellects, reputation and impartiality alone. but again, we're talking about a system that's inherently political. here's why that's important. for the same reasons that many of the people who have been talked about have been recently confirmed, i am waiting to see to what extent somebody will bring up for example, judge brown. whether they will mention her relative infancy when it comes to being an appellate judge in d.c. circuit and comparing that to how the relative infancy was when it came to justice amy coney barrett. there was bipartisan support for several of these women in recent types. i'm wondering if there will be hypocrisy going forward about when suddenly it comes to the highest court in the land, their ability and credibility will be challenged. it will be very interesting to see how they do this, but as dana mentioned, it's so important to think about the

they're both relatively young, very young for a supreme court justice. and would get to serve on the court for decades. and now, does this change the ideological balance of the court? absolutely not. it maintains it. there is still a 6-3 conservative majority. arguably reactionary majority on the court. and that will remain the case. but at least it won't, from progressives' point of view, it won't get worst. >> we are expecting to learn from senate majority leader chuck schumer. he's in new york, and folks are scrambling to hear what he has to say. democrats would like to move very quickly on this nomination, once we have the official announcement from justice breyer, and president biden makes his selection. can you talk a little bit about what could potentially be a wrench in this, which is, democrats have to be united. it's 50 plus 1, so you need all 50 democratic senators onboard. chuck schumer has not been able to do that on other issues. do you get the sense that senators manchin and sinema will back these picks? any sense of that at this moment? >>

supreme court. that would be significant. what would the edition of a younger, more progressive justice, due to the ideological slant of the court? >> so i think it has already been said. in the immediate material, not that much. you're swapping out someone generally liberal, although practicing mat oik certain issues, for another liberal. in the immediate future, you're going to have a 6-3 court. before justice breyer's retirement and a 6-3 court after his retirement. in the long term, it is a very sharp shift to a 7-2 court. if justice breyer waited just a year, or even a number of months, depending on what happens in the elections this fall. as we know, senator mcconnell does not like to proceed on democratic president's nominees to the high court if he thinks he can get away with it. so an enormous ideological shift. maybe on certain issues, the new justice maybe more progressive than pragmatic. but in the middle to longer term. >> let's not forget, this is a lifetime appointment. he sow someone 45, 50 years old, nominated

the judiciary committee over the supreme court confirmation hearings. we were joking with another, did he ever think he would serve decades on the court and i would be president of the united states on the day he came in to retire? he looked at. i will tell you what he said. i'm joking. i'm proud and grateful to be there at the start of his distinguished career, supreme court. i'm very proud to be here today on his announcement of his retirement. during his confirmation hearings back in 1994, stephen breyer said, "the law must work for the people." he explained our complex legal system has a single purpose, tell people who make up our country. it was a different time. his brilliance, values, scholarship are what he became justice breyer by overwhelming bipartisan vote at the time. today justice breyer announces his intention to step down from active service after four decades on the federal bench and 28 years on the united states supreme court. his legacy includes his work as a leading scholar and jurist and administrative law, bringing his brilliance to

supreme court to overrule a lower court decision ordering lawmakers to rework their redistricting map violated the voting rights act. the judges had told legislators that they had two weeks to create a new map that will need to include two districts in which black voters either comprise a voting age majority or something quite close to it. first of all, do you expect the supreme court to take this case? and if so, how consequential would that be? >> well, this case is, i think, a turning point, alex, and the fact that the alabama legislature, which has only 14 days to draw these new maps, the fact that they've not yet scheduled a special session suggests that they're very confident that they will win in the supreme court. they have asked the court to take the case, but pending right now on the supreme court's shadow docket is a motion that would keep the district court's ruling from going into effect. in essence, that would mean alabama would keep the same maps it already has that draws only one of its seven congressional districts in a method that black voters have even a chance at w