THE SECRET WEAPON DEMS COULD WHIP OUT ON TRUMP’S JUDGES | Age Matters, Ask Trump | Consequences Of No More Kennedy
May 10, 2017
WRECKING BALL
|Before the Grand Old Party takes a run at reshaping the federal courts, Carl Hulse with The New York Times says not so fast — there’s a teeny tiny Senate custom that could allow Dems to take a wrecking back to the Republicans’ plans. It’s called the “blue slip” which refers to the custom of the Senate Judiciary Committee to not move forward on a judicial nomination unless home-state senators acquiesce by returning a blue-tinted form agreeing to do so.
BUCK TRADITION
|And because nothing is sacred in Congress anymore, SENATOR TOM COTTON of Arkansas says he’s ready to get rid of the long-standing Senate tradition of the blue slip. Hewitt said Tuesday: “I think the blue slip tradition can be helpful if it encourages the White House to consult in advance with senators. But we can’t allow Democratic senators to continue to obstruct this president’s agenda. If they’re just arbitrarily not returning blue slips, we have to consider changing that tradition to one of its past other forms.” POLITICO’s Seung Min Kim reports.
LOVE TO HATE
|For U.S. News, Joseph Williams considers what we already know about JUSTICE NEIL M. GORSUCH even before he’s issued any legal opinions or dissents from the SCOTUS bench. Williams thinks Gorsuch will “argue and vote pretty much as PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has advertised: In the mold of the late JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA, an outspoken conservative firebrand liberals loved to hate.”
TOP-ED
|In the Los Angeles Times, Michael McGough opines that although you can say a lot about PRESIDENT TRUMP and his decisions, the one thing he’s done well is selecting “qualified federal judges.” McGough notes that compared to some of the other choices Trump might have made, JUSTICE GORSUCH and his recent batch of federal nominees are pretty mainstream. He writes, “Liberals might grit their teeth when they say it, but if the Federalist Society is responsible for Trump choosing accomplished jurists for the federal bench, thank God for the Federalist Society.”
YOUNG AND FUN
|Slate’s very own Micah Schwartzman and Mark Joseph Stern explain how PRESIDENT TRUMP plans to transform the federal courts with young judges who will serve on the bench for decades. “Even if the age gap narrows significantly in Trump’s next wave of nominations, there’s no chance it will disappear. Trump’s judges will serve longer than Obama’s. Age matters. Republicans have long understood that legal ideas have vitality only when they are supported by judges who can articulate and apply them over many decades. It’s a lesson liberals will learn the hard way as they spend the next several decades grappling with doctrines devised by Trump appointees.”
WHY GOD, WHY GOD DO I GOTTA SUFFER
|“A president who will fire an FBI director while the FBI is investigating his campaign, and who has shown no understanding of judicial independence—what would he do with the gift of Kennedy’s seat? Might he not choose a crony, might he not disrespect the independence of the Supreme Court, might he not even suck the court into the swirl of scandal?” That’s Garrett Epps for The Atlantic writing about the potential consequences of JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY stepping down from the Supreme Court. He notes, “No one could criticize Anthony Kennedy for choosing, after a storied career, from wanting to lay his burden down. He has served the nation well according to his lights. But what will happen after him?”
OTHER NEWS
Solicitor General Nominee Faces Scrutiny For Travel Ban Recusal
The National Law Journal“On the eve of his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Solicitor General-nominee Noel Francisco is the focus of a lawsuit seeking information about his participation in the legal battle over President Donald Trump’s travel ban.”