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Biden ‘stands by’ pledge to nominate Black woman to supreme court, White House says – as it happened

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Biden to 'stand by' pledge to nominate Black woman to supreme court, says Jen Psaki – video

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Biden 'certainly stands by' promise to nominate Black woman to supreme court, Psaki says

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing and taking questions about reports of Stephen Breyer’s plans to retire from the supreme court.

Echoing her message on Twitter earlier today, Psaki emphasized that the White House would not go into detail about a potential nomination process until Breyer makes his plans officials.

“It has always been the decision of any supreme court justice if and when they decide to retire, how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today. So we’re not going to have additional details,” Psaki said at the beginning of her briefing.

But no surprise here: the first question from reporters was still about the Breyer news. A journalist asked Psaki whether Joe Biden intends to follow through on his campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the court.

“The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that,” Psaki replied.

“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.”

Key events

Today's politics recap

  • The supreme court justice Stephen Breyer plans to announce his retirement, according to multiple reports. Breyer’s retirement would give Joe Biden his first supreme court seat to fill, and the president has promised to select a Black woman for the role, which would mark a historic first for the US.
  • The White House said Biden “certainly stands by” his campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman to the supreme court. While not confirming news of Breyer’s retirement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that.”
  • Biden deflected questions about the potential supreme court vacancy, saying he would wait to comment until Breyer made the news official. “Every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own. There has been no announcement from Justice Breyer,” Biden said as he met with a group of CEOs today to discuss his economic agenda. “Let him make whatever statement he’s going to make, and I’ll be happy to talk about it later.”
  • Senate Democrats are expected to move quickly to confirm Biden’s supreme court nominee if Breyer does announce his retirement. The party controls the upper chamber and should be able to advance the nomination quickly, although a confirmation would not alter conservatives’ advantage on the bench. Even with Breyer’s replacement confirmed, the six conservative supreme court justices would still outnumber their three liberal colleagues.
  • Meanwhile, officials from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met in Paris today, in the latest effort to de-escalate tensions along Ukraine’s border. The talks came two days before French president Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the west seeks to avoid a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

– Joan E Greve

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A masterclass in election-rigging: how Republicans ‘dismembered’ a Democratic stronghold

Andrew Witherspoon and Sam Levine in New York:

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee gave final approval on Monday to an aggressive plan to split Nashville, a Democratic bastion, in a deeply Republican state, into several congressional districts as part of an effort to tilt the state’s congressional map in their favor. The plan is now waiting for approval from Governor Bill Lee, who is likely to sign it.

Nashville currently sits in the state’s fifth congressional district, represented by Jim Cooper, a Democrat who has held the seat for nearly 20 years. It’s a solid Democratic district – Joe Biden carried it by nearly 24 points in 2020 – but on Tuesday, Cooper announced he was retiring from Congress.

“Despite my strength at the polls, I could not stop the general assembly from dismembering Nashville. No one tried harder to keep our city whole,” he said in a statement. “I explored every possible way, including lawsuits, to stop the gerrymandering and to win one of the three new congressional districts that now divide Nashville. There’s no way, at least for me in this election cycle, but there may be a path for other worthy candidates.”

The new districts crack the concentration of Democratic voters in Nashville and cram them into three districts that stretch across the state and are filled with reliable Republican voters. Donald Trump would have easily carried all three of the proposed districts in 2020. The plan is one of the clearest, and most brazen, efforts to dismantle a Democratic district to benefit Republicans.

Take a look:

US prosecutors investigate Republicans who sent fake Trump electors to Congress

Ed Pilkington
Ed Pilkington

Federal prosecutors have launched an investigation into the attempt by Republicans in seven presidential battleground states won by Joe Biden in 2020 to subvert the election result by sending bogus slates of Donald Trump electors to Congress.

The ploy was one of the central tactics used by Trump loyalists as part of the “big lie” that he had defeated his Democratic challenger. The fake slates of electors were forwarded to congressional leaders, who then came under pressure to delay certification of Biden’s victory on 6 January 2021, the day of the Capitol insurrection.

In an interview on CNN, the deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco, revealed that the justice department has begun an investigation into what she called the “fraudulent elector certifications”. She said the department had received referrals on the matter and “our prosecutors are looking at those”.

Monaco added: “We are going to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead to address conduct of any kind and at any level that is part of an assault on our democracy.”

Fake slates of Trump electors were sent to Congress from seven states in fact won by Biden – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of those, two – New Mexico and Pennsylvania – added the caveat that the Trump electors should only be counted in the event of a disputed election.

The other five states sent signed statements to Washington giving the appearance that Trump had won despite clear and verified counts placing Biden on top.

Read more:

Joe Biden signed an executive order making sexual harassment an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a move that Congress had mandated that he do as part of the latest defense bill.

Lawmakers moved to change how military sexual assault and sexual harassment are prosecuted in the aftermath of the death of Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Army private first class stationed at Fort Hood, in Texas. Guillén had twice reported being harassed by a supervisor before her disappearance and death, but leadership failed to do anything.

Prior to the passage of the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, sexual assault and harassment were prosecuted under various articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice but were not specifically named an offense of their own.

Mayra Guillén, Vanessa’s older sister, said at a news conference last week described the passage of the new rules as “history being made” in her sister’s honor.

#IamVanessaGuillen this is a very emotional & a very proud moment for my family. Honor in your memory Vanessa. You’re in my heart and mind 24/7 sister. Love you.

— Mayra Guillen (@mguilen_) January 26, 2022

Today so far

That’s it from me after another newsy day in Washington. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Supreme court justice Stephen Breyer plans to announce his retirement, according to multiple reports. Breyer’s retirement would give Joe Biden his first supreme court seat to fill, and the president has promised to select a Black woman for the role, which would mark a historic first for the US.
  • The White House said Biden “certainly stands by” his campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman to the supreme court. While not confirming news of Breyer’s retirement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that.”
  • Biden deflected questions about the potential supreme court vacancy, saying he would wait to comment until Breyer made the news official. “Every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own. There has been no announcement from Justice Breyer,” Biden said as he met with a group of CEOs today to discuss his economic agenda. “Let him make whatever statement he’s going to make, and I’ll be happy to talk about it later.”
  • Senate Democrats are expected to move quickly to confirm Biden’s supreme court nominee if Breyer does announce his retirement. The party controls the upper chamber and should be able to advance the nomination quickly, although a confirmation would not alter conservatives’ advantage on the bench. Even with Breyer’s replacement confirmed, the six conservative supreme court justices would still outnumber their three liberal colleagues.
  • Meanwhile, officials from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met in Paris today, in the latest effort to de-escalate tensions along Ukraine’s border. The talks came two days before French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the west seeks to avoid a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

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For recent supreme court vacancies, it has taken an average of 70 days to nominate someone to fill an open seat and an average of 68 days to get that person confirmed, per Axios.

With news outlets reporting Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's plans to retire, Dems will be looking to confirm Biden's nominee with enough time to shape the midterms.

Take a look at how long it’s taken to confirm past Supreme Court justices ➡️ https://t.co/MK5LdODHyC pic.twitter.com/ooFIRME3J9

— Axios (@axios) January 26, 2022

So, if Stephen Breyer formally announced his retirement tomorrow and the nomination process played out as expected, Joe Biden may have his supreme court nominee confirmed by mid-June.

That means that Senate Democrats should have plenty of time to confirm Biden’s nominee before the midterm elections in November, when Republicans may regain control of the upper chamber.

David Smith
David Smith

Stephen Breyer’s expected retirement is a perfectly timed political gift for Joe Biden, aware that choosing a supreme court justice is one of the most consequential decisions that any president can make.

After a year in the White House, Biden was limping with a stalled legislative agenda, a tenacious pandemic and Vladimir Putin threatening Ukraine. He was a tired brand in desperate need of a relaunch, a tough ask at the age of 79.

Breyer has provided it, instantly changing the conversation. “This has to feel like a political elixir right now,” observed Chuck Todd, host of MSNBC’s Meet the Press Daily show.

A vacancy on the highest court enables Biden to rally the Democratic base and begin to cement a legacy that, despite early ambitions, had recently looked to be in jeopardy. Although the ideological balance of the court will not change, Biden could choose a young liberal who will serve for decades.

Senator Joe Manchin applauded Stephen Breyer for his decades of supreme court service, and he said he looks forward to meeting with Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the liberal justice’s seat.

“Justice Breyer has dedicated much of his life to upholding the rule of law and we are grateful for his service. I wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement,” Manchin said.

Justice Breyer has dedicated much of his life to upholding the rule of law and we are grateful for his service. I wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement.

— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) January 26, 2022

He added, “I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously. I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Biden’s nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.”

After news broke of Breyer’s expected retirement, some Democrats expressed concern that Manchin and/or Kyrsten Sinema may oppose Biden’s eventual nominee, as they have helped to block key components of the president’s legislative agenda.

However, both Manchin and Sinema have generally deferred to the president when it comes to judicial nominees, and it seems likely they will support Biden’s choice.

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Some of the Black women who serve in Congress are also urging Joe Biden to nominate a Black woman to the supreme court, as the president has indicated he intends to do.

“It is past time for a Black woman to be named to the Supreme Court,” progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush said on Twitter.

It is past time for a Black woman to be named to the Supreme Court.

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 26, 2022

One of Bush’s colleagues, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, echoed that message, saying, “It’s time for a Black woman on the Supreme Court.”

.@POTUS, it's time for a Black woman on the Supreme Court.

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 26, 2022

Both Bush and Pressley serve in the House, while the Senate will be the chamber confirming Biden’s supreme court nominee if Stephen Breyer does indeed announce his retirement.

That means that no Black woman will have a say in confirming Biden’s nominee, as there are no Black women serving in the Senate right now. Kamala Harris had previously been the only Black woman in the Senate, but she left the chamber to serve as Biden’s vice-president.

One reporter asked Jen Psaki whether the White House is concerned that a hypothetical supreme court nomination may distract from Joe Biden’s efforts to get the Build Back Better Act passed.

While not confirming anything about Stephen Breyer’s expected retirement, Psaki said, “We have to walk and chew gum at the same time here in the White House.”

The press secretary noted the administration has been busy for the past year working to fulfill commitments on multiple fronts, including the distribution of coronavirus vaccines, the protection of Ukraine’s sovereignty and the implementation of Biden’s economic agenda.

“We are entirely capable of doing more than one thing at once,” Psaki said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has dodged multiple questions about Joe Biden’s potential supreme court nominees and the handling of a theoretical confirmation process.

Two reporters pressed Psaki on whether Kamala Harris would be considered for an open supreme court seat, and while not going into any detail, the press secretary seemed to downplay that possibility.

“The president has every intention, as he said before, of running for reelection and for running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner,” Psaki said.

.@PeterAlexander & @pdoocy ask @PressSec if VP Kamala Harris is being considered for the Supreme Court.

"The president has every intention, as he said before, of running for reelection, and for running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner." pic.twitter.com/nBaRLb6pT3

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 26, 2022

Biden 'certainly stands by' promise to nominate Black woman to supreme court, Psaki says

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing and taking questions about reports of Stephen Breyer’s plans to retire from the supreme court.

Echoing her message on Twitter earlier today, Psaki emphasized that the White House would not go into detail about a potential nomination process until Breyer makes his plans officials.

“It has always been the decision of any supreme court justice if and when they decide to retire, how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today. So we’re not going to have additional details,” Psaki said at the beginning of her briefing.

But no surprise here: the first question from reporters was still about the Breyer news. A journalist asked Psaki whether Joe Biden intends to follow through on his campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the court.

“The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that,” Psaki replied.

“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.”

Biden deflects questions on Breyer until formal announcement

Joe Biden dodged questions about Stephen Breyer’s reported plans to retire from the supreme court, saying he would wait until the liberal justice made the news official.

Meeting with CEOs at the White House to discuss his economic agenda, Biden initially ignored reporters’ shouted questions about Breyer before offering a comment.

During an event at the White House on his Build Back Better agenda, Biden declined to address the news of Breyer’s retirement, telling reporters that he will wait until a formal announcement is made. pic.twitter.com/A1OFq4gY26

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 26, 2022

“Every justice has the right and opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own. There has been no announcement from Justice Breyer,” Biden said moments ago.

“Let him make whatever statement he’s going to make, and I’ll be happy to talk about it later,” the president added.

Biden then kicked off his meeting with CEOs to discuss the Build Back Better Act, Democrats’ $1.75tn spending package that includes major investments in childcare, healthcare and climate initiatives.

The bill has been blocked in the Senate due to opposition from Joe Manchin, but Democrats are looking to restart negotiations and pass a version of the legislation before the midterm elections in November.

Maya Yang

At the White House coronavirus team briefing a little earlier, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned of taking a laissez-faire attitude towards the “milder” Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Rochelle Walensky before a hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this month. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/REX/Shutterstock

“Milder does not mean mild,” Walensky said, of the coronavirus variant still raging in the US and many other parts of the world. She added: “Now is the time to do what we know works. Wear a mask, get vaccinated and get boosted.”

At the briefing, it was announced that the US has donated over 400 million vaccine doses to 112 countries, marking a major milestone in the White House’s goal of donating 1.2 billion vaccine doses under Joe Biden’s direction.

White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said that the total donation is four times higher than that of any other country.

Zients also revealed that the country hit another major milestone this week, with 70% of eligible seniors, who are most at risk and most vulnerable, having now received their booster shot. And half of all eligible adults are now boosted.

“This is significant progress as the doctors and data have made crystal clear. Vaccinations and boosters provide the best protection,” Zients said.

Over the past week, the daily averages of cases and hospital admissions have decreased, according to Walensky.

The current seven-day daily average of Covid-19 cases is approximately 692,400 cases per day, a 6% decrease over the previous week. The seven-day average of hospital admissions is around 19,800 per day, an 8% decrease over the previous seek.

However, the seven-day average daily deaths are around 2,200 per day, an increase of around 21% over the previous week.

“These data demonstrate that Covid-19 disease severity appears to be lower with the Omicron variant than with prior variants… Although it’s encouraging that Omicron appears to be causing less severe disease, it is important to remember that we are still facing a high overall burden of disease. Milder does not mean mild,” the director said.

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