乔·拜登总统和斯蒂芬·布雷耶法官周四一起出现在白宫宣布布雷耶退休来自最高法院，为拜登兑现提名总统候选人的竞选承诺扫清了道路第一个黑人女性作为他历史性的第一选择。
拜登说:“我今天在这里向斯蒂芬·布雷耶法官表达全国人民的感激之情，感谢他出色的公共服务生涯，以及他对让我们国家的法律为人民服务的清醒承诺。
拜登称赞布雷耶的公共服务事业他十几岁时在美国陆军服役，40岁前在政府的三个部门任职。拜登多次提到他与布雷耶的私人关系，他是唯一一位主持大法官确认的总统，当时他是参议院司法委员会主席，布雷耶于1994年被比尔·克林顿总统提名为最高法院法官。
“他耐心地寻求共同点并建立共识，寻求使法院走到一起。我认为他是这个国家处于巨大分裂时期的模范公务员，”拜登说，称赞布雷耶是一名能够弥合法官席分歧的法官。
谈到他将留下的空缺，拜登还重申了他提名第一位黑人女性进入最高法院的承诺，他说这是“早就应该做的事情。”
“虽然我一直在研究候选人的背景和作品，但我没有做出任何决定，除了一个:我将提名的人将是具有非凡资格、品格、经验和正直的人。这个人将是第一个被提名进入美国最高法院的黑人女性。在我看来，早就应该这样做了，我在竞选总统期间就做出了这一承诺，我将信守这一承诺，”他说。
拜登表示，他“目前没有选择”，但他打算在与民主党和共和党参议员协商后，“在2月底之前”宣布他的提名人。他还指出，副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯将在这一过程中发挥关键的咨询作用。
“我会全力以赴去做我说过要做的事情。我将履行我的职责，选出一名大法官，不仅要征得参议院的同意，还要听取它的建议，”拜登说。“我将邀请两党参议员发表他们的想法和观点。”
拜登表示，当他决定填补这个席位时，他将牢记布雷耶的精神。
拜登说:“最终，我将提名一位具有历史意义的候选人，一位无愧于布雷耶大法官遗产的人，一位像布雷耶大法官一样，在美国最高法院提供令人难以置信的服务的人。
布雷耶引用亚伯拉罕·林肯总统的葛底斯堡演说，提醒人们国家的缔造者们将美国民主描述为一个伟大的“实验”
“‘我们现在正在进行一场伟大的内战，以决定这个国家或任何一个如此孕育、如此献身的国家是否能够长久存在，’”他引用林肯的名言说，这些话今天仍然适用。
布雷耶回忆起与学生的对话，他说现在要由下一代来“决定这个实验是否仍然有效。”
“这是一个仍在进行的实验。我要告诉你一些事情，你知道谁会看到这个实验是否有效?是你，我的朋友。是你，高中生先生，”布雷耶说。“我是一个乐观主义者，我很确定它会。”
周四早些时候，布雷耶在周四给总统的一封信中正式通知拜登退休，并写道他打算完成任期并留任，直到继任者得到确认，他将在几项重大决定中保住自己的席位，这些决定将于6月下旬结束任期。
布雷耶称这份工作是一种特权和巨大的荣誉，他说:“我发现这份工作具有挑战性和意义。我和每一位同事的关系都是热情友好的。”
83岁的布雷耶是最高法院自由派中最资深的成员，他在参议院任职了27年，在任期结束时，他在中期选举前下台，实现了民主党人的愿望，他们游说确保拜登可以提名继任者，同时民主党人控制参议院。
由于当时的参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)领导下的2017年规则变化，民主党人现在可以在没有共和党人一票的情况下通过拜登的提名，这降低了最高法院提名人阻挠议事的门槛，从60票降至51票。麦康奈尔去年曾表示，如果共和党在11月赢得参议院控制权，而2023年或2024年出现空缺，共和党可能会试图阻止一名民主党提名人进入法庭。
继拜登和布雷耶的联合声明后，麦康奈尔呼叫关于拜登选择一名候选人来填补布雷耶的空缺，他“表现出对我们法律和宪法的书面文本的尊重”，并敦促他“不要将这一重要决定外包给激进的左翼。”
参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默周三表示，参议院准备“以所有深思熟虑的速度”确认拜登的提名法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊曾担任布雷耶的书记员，去年在两党的支持下被确认为华盛顿特区巡回上诉法院的法官，被认为是最大的竞争者。
据两名知情的民主党助手透露，一旦拜登提名继任者，参议院民主党人计划不仅迅速举行确认听证会(类似于大法官艾米·科尼·巴雷特(Amy Coney Barrett)在提名后13天内举行的首次听证会)，而且在布雷耶仍坐在法官席上的时候举行这些听证会。
虽然过渡给拜登和他的支持者带来了一个令人兴奋的机会，但取代布雷耶不会改变法院6比3的保守多数。
Biden honors retiring Justice Breyer, commits to nominate Black woman to replace him on Supreme Court
President Joe Biden and Justice Stephen Breyer appeared together Thursday at the White House toannounce Breyer's retirementfrom the Supreme Court, clearing the way for Biden to follow through on his campaign promise to nominate thefirst Black womanto the high court as his historic first pick.
"I'm here today to express the nation's gratitude to Justice Stephen Breyer for his remarkable career of public service, and his clear-eyed commitment to making our country's laws work for its people," Biden said.
Biden praised Breyer'scareer in public service, beginning in the United States Army as a teenager before going on to serve in all three branches of government before he turned 40. Multiple times, Biden noted his personal connection to Breyer, as the only president to have presided over a justice's confirmation -- when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Breyer was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton.
"He has patiently sought common ground and built consensus, seeking to bring the court together. I think he's a model public servant in a time of great division in this country," Biden said, hailing Breyer for being a justice who could bridge divides on the bench.
Turning to the vacancy he will leave, Biden also reaffirmed his commitment to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, which he said was "long overdue."
"While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It's long overdue in my opinion, I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment," he said.
Biden said he's made "no choice at this point" but it's his intention to announce his nominee "before the end of February" after consulting with both Democratic and Republican senators. He also noted Vice President Kamala Harris will play a key consulting role in the process.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announces his retirement alongside President Jo...
"I will fully do what I'd said I'd do. I will fulfill my duty to select a justice, not only with the Senate's consent, but with its advice," Biden said. "I'm going to invite senators from both parties to offer their ideas and points of view."
Biden said he will keep in mind Breyer's spirit when he makes his decision on filling the seat.
"In the end, I will nominate a historic candidate, someone who's worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy, and someone who like Justice Breyer, provide incredible service on the United States Supreme Court," Biden said.
Breyer, quoting from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, reminded that the nation's founders described American democracy as one great "experiment."
"'We are now engaged in a great Civil War to determine whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure,'" he said, citing Lincoln's famous words, saying they are still relevant today.
Recalling conversations with his students, Breyer said it's now up to the next generation will "determine whether the experiment still works."
"It's an experiment that's still going on. And I'll tell you something, you know who will see whether that experiment works? It's you, my friend. It's you, Mr. high school student," Breyer said. "I am an optimist, and I'm pretty sure it will."
Earlier Thursday, in a letter to the president Thursday, Breyer formally notified Biden of his retirement and wrote he intends to complete term and remain until a successor is confirmed, holding his seat in several blockbuster decisions that will close the term in late June.
Breyer called the job a privilege and great honor, saying "I have found the work challenging and meaningful. My relations with each of my colleagues have been warm and friendly."
In finishing out the term -- but stepping down ahead of the midterm elections -- Breyer, 83, the most senior member of the Supreme Court's liberal wing who served on the bench for 27 years, fulfills the wish of Democrats who lobbied to ensure Biden could name a successor while Democrats controlled the Senate.
With the slimmest of margins, Democrats can now pass Biden's nominee without a single Republican vote due to a 2017 rule change under then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, which lowered the threshold to break the filibuster from 60 votes to 51 votes for Supreme Court nominees. McConnell said last year that the GOP may try to block a Democratic nominee to the court if Republicans won control of the Senate in November and a vacancy occurred in 2023 or 2024.
Following Biden and Breyer's joint announcement, McConnellcalledon Biden to select a nominee to fill Breyer’s vacancy who has "demonstrated reverence for the written text of our laws and constitution" and urged him "not to outsource this important decision to the radical left."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday the chamber is prepared to move to confirm Biden's nominee with "all deliberate speed." Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who once served as a clerk to Breyer and was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year with bipartisan support, is considered a top contender.
Once Biden nominates a replacement, Senate Democrats plan to not only hold a confirmation hearing swiftly -- similar to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who had her first hearing within 13 days of her nomination -- but also to hold those proceedings while Breyer is still sitting on the bench, according to two Democratic aides familiar with the matter.
While the transition presents an exciting opportunity for Biden and his supporters, replacing Breyer will not change the court's 6-3 conservative majority.
