Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer called the court “fallible” during an interview with CNN on Wednesday, though he added it has served the United States “pretty well.”
“It’s an institution that’s fallible, though over time it has served this country pretty well,” Breyer said. “As Mother used to say: every race, every religion, every point of view possible is held by people in this country. And it’s helped them to live together.”
The justice’s comments come as leftists cry for Breyer, 83, to retire — specifically in the hopes the Biden administration and the Democrat controlled Senate can appoint a liberal activist justice to “balance” the current Republican 6-3 majority.
Breyer is also regarded as a center-left sort of liberal, and the hardliners currently ascendant in the Democrat Party would like to see a strident liberal who would swing for the fences on the court.
Breyer, who has not indicated when he plans to retire, told CNN the criticism of the Supreme Court is not historically unusual.
Breyer, who has not confirmed if he plans to retire, told CNN the criticism of the Supreme Court is not historically unusual.
“It’s always been controversial,” Breyer said, noting that people accept the court’s decisions, even those “that they think are really wrong” adding “if they don’t, we won’t have a rule of law,” the Hill reported.
Democrats are especially keen to neutralize the Republican majority while they are in power — 2022 and 2024 are not looking good for the party, whose policies and leadership continue to flub on issues extremely important to voters.
President Joe Biden dodged questions about court packing throughout the fall of 2020, until announcing his plan to create a commission to study the issue. Biden has begun appointing members to a special commission that will consider expanding the Supreme Court, among other “reforms.”
Politico reported Wednesday that the “bipartisan” commission will be chaired by Biden’s former campaign lawyer, Bob Bauer, a career Democrat operative who also worked for the Perkins Coie firm.
Perkins Coie was involved in the Russia “dossier” on then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, and its election law practice, headed by Marc Elias, led Democrats’ legal filings throughout the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath, Breitbart News reported.
“Breyer has been critical of proposals to remake the Supreme Court. For example, he told NPR in an interview in September “what goes around comes around,” according to the report.
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