Trump Refuses To Commit To A Peaceful Transition Of Power, Says There Should Be Nine Justices If Election Ends Up At SCOTUS
September 24, 2020
TO THE RIGHT, THE RIGHT, THE RIGHT
|What would a 6-3 conservative majority at the Supreme Court really look like? And would it really be that big of a deal? As FiveThirtyEight points out, “It’s really, really rare for presidents to be able to seismically shift the court’s center of gravity with a single nomination. But that’s exactly what Trump’s replacement for Ginsburg is poised to do.” FiveThirtyEight reviewed all the top contenders that have been floated to replace JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, and found that all possible outcomes would result in a far more conservative justice taking the place of the Supreme Court’s second-most liberal justice.
DOWN WITH DEMOCRACY
|Will PRESIDENT TRUMP leave office peacefully? Nope. And that’s according to the man himself. When asked yesterday at a press conference if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power — regardless of the election’s outcome — Trump refused to make such a commitment. He told press, “We’re going to have to see what happens. You know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster. Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly, there’ll be a continuation.” Alana Wise with NPR reports.
SCOTUS HIS SAVIOR
|Yesterday in that same news conference, PRESIDENT TRUMP said he plans to fill RBG’s seat as soon as possible in case SCOTUS has to weigh the outcome of his own presidential election. Trump told reporters, “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court, and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.” David Jackson and Joey Garrison with USA Today report, “Despite protests from Democrats, Trump and the Republicans are moving forward with a turbo-charged fight over the Supreme Court, this one in the final six weeks of a presidential election. The GOP sees it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cement conservative dominance over the nation’s highest court for decades. If Trump’s nominee is confirmed, conservatives would have a 6-3 advantage over the court’s progressive members.”
DICTATOR IN CHIEF
|Lawmakers from both parties called PRESIDENT TRUMP’S comments yesterday unacceptable. SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER tweeted, “President Trump: You are not a dictator, and America will not permit you to be one.” And SENATOR MITT ROMNEY — who approves of Trump naming someone to SCOTUS before the election — said, “Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.” Alex Leary and Alexa Corse with The Wall Street Journal report.
OCTOBER SURPRISE?
|On Saturday, PRESIDENT TRUMP is expected to announce his Supreme Court nominee, and Andrew Duehren with The Wall Street Journal writes that Senate Democrats have conceded they have “few tools to slow a Republican push” to put Trump’s pick on the court. “Republicans this week largely consolidated support for moving forward and confirming Mr. Trump’s nominee this year, brushing aside Democratic calls to leave the pick to the winner of the presidential race between Mr. Trump and former Vice President JOE BIDEN. Some Senate Republicans say a confirmation vote could be held by the end of October.”
NEVER SAY DI
|“As the Senate prepares for yet another brutal Supreme Court nomination fight, one particularly sensitive issue is creating apprehension among Democrats: what to do with 87-year-old SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.” John Bresnahan and Marianne Levine with POLITICO report the oldest member of the Senate has her Democratic colleagues shaking in their boots. “Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic senators and aides show widespread concern over whether the California Democrat is capable of leading the aggressive effort Democrats need against whoever PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP picks to replace the late JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG. The Judiciary Committee is the critical battleground in the Supreme Court confirmation process. At stake, her own Democratic colleagues worry, is more than just whether the party can thwart Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL (R-Ky.) in his rush to fill the seat. Some Democrats privately fear that Feinstein could mishandle the situation and hurt their chances of winning back the majority.”
CONSTITUTIONAL HARDBALL
|Robinson Woodward-Burns with The Washington Post suggests Republicans’ “Supreme Court gambit” may backfire if Dems can capture the Senate majority. He argues that Democrats simply threatening to expand their power and reshape the courts could be a powerful tool. “Famously, the threat of a bill or amendment to expand the court may have pushed the Supreme Court to uphold Congress’s New Deal legislation in the 1930s. Current CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN G. ROBERTS JR. seems sensitive to preserving the court’s institutional independence, as might even hard line conservative justices if faced with the threat of being sidelined by Democratic hardball.”
WANT TO FIX THE COURT?
|The New York Times wants to hear from you (yes you!) about how you’d change the Supreme Court. Would you like to see term limits for the justices? Or do you think SCOTUS should be more transparent? Submit a letter of no more than 150 words to letters@nytimes.com.