Breyer will retire — just in time for Biden
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2022
⏱️ 17 minutes
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Summary
Justice Stephen G. Breyer will retire at the end of the current Supreme Court term. This clears the way for President Biden to make good on his campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the court.
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Justice Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, according to a person familiar with his plans. This clears the way for President Biden to reinforce the court’s liberal minority and make good on a campaign promise: to nominate the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court.
Our Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes says Breyer will be remembered for his willingness to compromise with his conservative colleagues — and his long-winded questions.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Robert, are there any stories about Breyer that you that come to mind of? |
| 0:07.7 | Well, you know, the thing that he's famous for is asking extremely long questions that |
| 0:13.6 | sometimes befuddle the lawyer who's trying to answer them. |
| 0:19.9 | That's Robert Barnes. |
| 0:20.9 | He covers the Supreme Court for the post. |
| 0:23.0 | Okay, but I want to ask you a provisional question. |
| 0:26.9 | Are you still really asking his court now today? |
| 0:29.5 | I mean, I assume you're arguments or you have good arguments in your brief. |
| 0:33.3 | Sometimes they're measured in how many pages of the transcript they cover. |
| 0:38.8 | They can be quite rambling. |
| 0:40.3 | You know, he was a law professor and sometimes when you listen to him, you sort of hear |
| 0:44.9 | the law professor go back and I do remember one time he asked a very long and very detailed |
| 0:52.0 | question. |
| 0:53.0 | Like, issue of stay today or tomorrow, Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. |
| 0:58.6 | I mean, the reason I asked that is the lawyer just sort of looked at him and said, I'm sorry, |
| 1:04.8 | just as I don't know what you're asking. |
| 1:07.8 | And just as prior looked at him and smiled and said, I was afraid of that. |
| 1:12.9 | Someone who asks long questions, sometimes I can really relate to that. |
| 1:20.6 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. |
| 1:23.8 | I am routine powers. |
| 1:25.6 | It's Wednesday, January 26. |
| 1:28.0 | Today, the big news is that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring at the end of |
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