From New York Times opinion, I'm Ross Douthan.

And this is interesting times.

Right now, there's a roster of cases before the Supreme Court that could reshape the entire Trump presidency and redefine executive power.

And my guest this week, Justice Amy Coney-Barratt, is likely to be the decisive vote in some of those cases.

Unfortunately, but predictably, that means that she couldn't or wouldn't respond to my most direct questions about the Trump administration.

But my goal was to push the justice on a question that she can answer, one that she addresses at length in her new book, listening to the law.

I wanted to know whether her preferred legal theory, originalism, can bend and flex in response to prudential and political concerns. Barrett argues strongly that it shouldn't,

that justices should rule without worrying about public opinion or who happens to be in the White

House. But I tend to think that real-world politics constantly tests and limits that ideal.

So in our conversation, I'm trying to find those limits, and the ways in which even

justices devoted to the original meaning of the Constitution have to deal with the highly

unusual pressures of right now.

Justice Barrett, welcome to interesting times. Thank you for having me, Ross. I honestly would

never have said no. I have to be honest. So, your book is mostly about, and we're mostly going to talk about

theories of jurisprudence, the place of the Supreme Court in American

life, possibly some issues related to the Trump presidency and executive power. But it does start

with a little window into the personal world of Amy Coney Barrett. So I'm going to start with

a couple of questions about that terrain.

We looked it up and you are the first guest we've had on the show who has more children than I do,

which is only because we haven't yet succeeded in booking Elon Musk, I should say.

There's still time for you to catch up with me, Ross. That's a bold statement,

and I appreciate your confidence in my youthful energy and vigor. So when you were being nominated,

...