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Retired Justice Stephen Breyer defends federal judges under attack from White House in CNN interview

Retired Justice Stephen Breyer defends federal judges under attack from White House in CNN interview
March 19, 2025
John Fritze - CNN

(CNN) โ€” Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Wednesday defended federal judges that have come under withering criticism from President Donald Trump and his allies for a series of rulings that have slowed the White Houseโ€™s agenda.

Breyer, who retired from the court in 2022, said that every judge in the nation is โ€œaware of the climate of the eraโ€ but said that they must nevertheless decide controversial cases based on their best โ€“ if sometimes imperfect โ€“ reading of the law.

โ€œYou decide what you think is correct in the law. Period,โ€ Breyer said during an exclusive interview on โ€œThe Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer & Pamela Brown.โ€

โ€œBut are you aware of whatโ€™s going in the country? Yes, you are,โ€ he added.

Breyerโ€™s remarks came as federal judges have faced fierce criticism from the Trump administration over rulings that have temporarily halted some of the presidentโ€™s actions, including a block on rapid deportations under a wartime authority enacted in 1798. Trump urged Congress to impeach the judge involved in that case, which prompted a highly unusual public statement from Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday.

Roberts urged parties who lose in lower courts to appeal those decisions rather than threatening to impeach the judge who made them.

Breyer told CNN that he thought Robertsโ€™ statement was appropriate.

โ€œHeโ€™s trying to explain to the people of this country how the legal system works and how it doesnโ€™t work,โ€ Breyer said of Roberts. โ€œIt doesnโ€™t work by impeaching a judge because you donโ€™t like his decision.โ€

Breyer demurred when asked by Blitzer if the nation is nearing a constitutional crisis.

โ€œNo one really knows. People have different views on that,โ€ Breyer said. โ€œThe best thing for the judges is, you follow the law.โ€

Breyer, nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton, announced his retirement in 2022. President Joe Biden named Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer clerk, to replace him and she was confirmed by the Senate in April of that same year.

The-CNN-Wire
โ„ข & ยฉ 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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