Trump’s Tough Week At The Supreme Court | How SCOTUS Is Heating Up As An Election Issue For Dems And GOP
June 19, 2020
HIS OWN WORST ENEMY
|“When it comes to the U.S. Supreme Court, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S administration is becoming its own worst enemy. Trump endured a disastrous week at the high court, losing fights over LGBT job-bias suits and his bid to end the DACA deferred-deportation program. The court also rejected Trump’s challenge to California’s sanctuary-city law, which protects undocumented immigrants.” Greg Stohr with Bloomberg notes that the president’s “penchant for shortcuts” was what led to his defeat in the DACA case.
GOING DOWN FIGHTING
|A day after the Supreme Court’s ruling that blocks PRESIDENT TRUMP’S attempt to dismantle DACA, Trump says he’s ready to try again to end the legal protections of young Dreamers. However, it’s unlikely Trump will get to deport Dreamers anytime soon as an executive order would surely be challenged in court and it’s too hot of an issue for Congress to take up so close to November.
THE STAKES COULDN'T BE HIGHER
|Sahil Kapur with NBC News notes that the week of Supreme Court setbacks for PRESIDENT TRUMP are adding renewed energy around SCOTUS and its importance in the 2020 election. Trump said this week he plans to yet again come out with a shortlist of potential Supreme Court nominees he’d draw from in a second term. Keep in mind JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG will turn 88 next year, and JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER will turn 82.
PLAYING POLITICS WITH SCOTUS
|Michael Scherer with The Washington Post also takes a look at how the Supreme Court is playing an especially important role in presidential politics. He writes, “PRESIDENT TRUMP and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee JOE BIDEN have both made shaping the Supreme Court’s agenda central to their campaign pitches, with Biden promising to appoint the first black woman and someone who embraces abortion rights to the bench, while Trump has warned of an end to conservative governance if Biden has his way. But a series of liberal decisions by the conservative-led Supreme Court this week is showcasing the shakiness of such promises, in an era when candidates of both parties are making increasingly explicit pledges to name justices who will faithfully carry out their agenda.”
ADD IT TO THE LIST
|The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to fast-track filings in a case regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to resume federal executions this summer. Mark Berman with The Washington Post reports, “The court ordered the death-row inmates and federal officials to submit briefs in the coming days, before the justices determine whether to hear the case. This order came three days after the Justice Department announced that officials had again scheduled executions as they seek to carry out federal death sentences for the first time since 2003. Under the timeline laid out Monday, the Justice Department said it plans to carry out three lethal injections next month and a fourth in August. The department described the inmates involved as all convicted of murdering children.”