All of the implications of Donald Trump’s substantial presidential victory are still being sorted out. Along with the executive and legislative agenda that the Trump/Vance administration will no doubt put into place, along with the geopolitical implications with the United States’ friends, allies and enemies alike, there is also the judiciary. The president appoints federal judges, subject to Senate approval — and for at least the next two years, the Senate will be comfortably in Republican hands, and thanks to Harry Reid, the filibuster no longer applies to Senate approval of judges.
This includes, of course, the Supreme Court. President-elect Trump, in his first term, appointed three Supreme Court justices. President Biden has appointed one (who is, I hasten to note, not a biologist) and now won’t get a second.
But look at the Supreme Court today, and you see two right-leaning justices that are good candidates for retirement in the next two years – Samuel Alito (74) and Clarence Thomas (76.) While neither has spoken out since the election, the logical time for either to retire would be in the next two years, so that President Trump can appoint an originalist replacement. That may well result in Donald Trump having appointed a majority of the Supreme Court. The implications of that could be huge.
Republicans are gearing up to lock in their remake of the judiciary under President-elect Donald Trump and a new Senate majority, including potentially installing several more conservative Supreme Court justices.
Having already picked three Supreme Court justices in his first term — who were critical in overturning abortion rights — Trump will have appointed a majority of the court if he lands two more.
It’s important to note that the court did not “overturn abortion rights.” The court did what the Constitution dictates: sent the issue back to the states, to be determined by the people’s elected state legislatures. This is a lie that just keeps being repeated, and it’s long past its sell-by date.
But it’s true that President-elect Trump, in his first term, did a lot to reshape the federal judiciary.
Trump made the Supreme Court and lower courts priorities in his first term. He worked with Senate Republicans to help reshape the entire judiciary by naming 234 federal judges. Republicans will hold at least 52 Senate seats, having flipped Democratic-held seats in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. The number may grow, with several other races still too close to call. Either way, they’ll have power to confirm judges and justices with simple majorities.
Conservatives are prepared for Supreme Court retirements, with the most attention on Justice Samuel Alito, 74.
“I imagine that Justice Alito will want to get the hell out of D.C. as quickly as possible,” said Mike Davis, the Senate GOP’s former chief counsel for nominations, who runs the conservative Article 3 Project advocacy group. “That’s who I would predict.”
Justice Alito and Justice Thomas are both good candidates for retirement. And if he follows his previous pattern — and indications are he will — he will appoint new justices young enough to be on the court for a matter of decades.
That is, as someone once said, a big effing deal.
See Related: US Supreme Court Gives PA the Go-Ahead to Count Provisional Ballots of Mail-In Voters
Panicking Democrats Float a Harebrained Idea to Reshape the Supreme Court Before GOP Takes Control
On Tuesday, former President Trump and Senator Vance won a historic victory, and that victory is substantial enough to constitute a mandate. President-elect Trump seems to be moving quickly; he has already taken calls from world leaders, he is clearly putting a team together, and he no doubt has a lot of plans.
The courts will be the longest-lasting piece of the Trump legacy. But four years will go by amazingly quickly. With a successful second term, and with a rebounding economy and peace on the world stage — we can hope — we may well see President-elect JD Vance in four years, to pick up the torch and run with it. But in such endeavors one should hope for the best and plan for the worst, and the Trump team should be making all their plans on a four-year window.
I’d be talking to some Supreme Court justices. There is a chance here to cement a Constitutional originalist court for a generation. Let’s hope that the Trump team can get this done, as it may be the longest-lasting piece of Trump’s legacy.
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