Donald Trump has a long history with the country’s High Court. Now more showdowns are on the way.
Because the U.S. Supreme Court just got big news about Trump’s election win.
During Donald Trump’s first term, he was able to nominate and confirm three new Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court bench, including Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Barrett. The three Justices have been instrumental in handing down conservative rulings from the High Court over the last few years.
One of the biggest consequences of the result of the 2024 Presidential election going Donald Trump’s way is that he may have another opportunity to nominate up to three more Justices to the bench. This would be unprecedented and would cement Donald Trump’s legacy in the courts for decades.
Clarence Thomas is now 76-years-old and there have been rumors that he is looking to retire in the not-too-distant future. Should Clarence choose to retire during Donald Trump’s second term, it would give Donald Trump the opportunity to replace Mr. Clarence on the bench and cement the conservative jurisprudence for many years.
Top legal expert and law professor Jonathan Turley went on Fox News to discuss this with Sandra Smith and John Roberts. He also notes that Justice Alito may also be considering a retirement for Trump to replace him as well. Were that to be the case, that would be five nominations for Donald Trump in total between his two terms.
As Turley notes, this would mean that issues like abortion will remain with the states instead of the 2022 Dobbs ruling being possibly overturned by a potentially flipped SCOTUS were Kamala Harris able to win and confirm two Justices to the bench. Two Democrat Justices would flip the majority back to the liberals, with a 5-4 liberal majority. That’s not going to be the case anymore with Harris having lost.
In the hours of the aftermath of the election, political commentators were quick to point out how the Trump win is particularly huge for the future makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s not just that Harris and the Dems won’t be able to pack the courts. It’s also that the Democrats may not be looking at a Democrat majority for many, many years into the future.
With at least a 53 seat majority in the US Senate, the Supreme Court will be conservative for the next 20+ years.
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito will likely retire within the next 4 years, giving Trump the opportunity to appoint two more young conservatives to the US Supreme… pic.twitter.com/GYwLAn20wN
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) November 6, 2024
While two out of the three liberal Justices are fairly young, with Ketanji Brown Jackson having only been just confirmed during Joe Biden’s term, there’s not much of a concern that Donald Trump will be able to flip those seats and cement an even stronger conservative jurisprudence.
That being said, Sonia Sotomayor is now 70-years-old. Sometimes, Supreme Court Justices surprise us with unexpected health issues in their 70s and 80s, and sometimes they just want to retire rather than hold on for the possibility of being replaced by a ideologically similar new Justice.
Far-Left Democrats online were very quick to call for Sonia Sotomayor to retire now and let Joe Biden quickly confirm a Justice just so that Donald Trump isn’t able to replace her seat with a conservative Justice during his second term. The Left is deathly afraid of such a scenario.
This would probably be a good day for Sotomayor to retire
— David Dayen (@ddayen) November 6, 2024
Earlier this year, it was reported that Sonia Sotomayor started traveling with a medic when she’s traveled big distances for vacations. The Marshals Service has recorded that Sotomayor has traveled with medical equipment checked during flights throughout the country.
In 2021 and 2022, Sotomayor made four trips to Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico with “medical gear” and “medical supplies”, which had to be recorded by the Marshals Service documents. The reason for this medical gear is unknown to the public at this time.
With this news going more public earlier this year and Donald Trump having just won a second term in the White House, Democrats are truly going to push Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to get in talks with Sotomayor about a potential hail mary to replace her before Biden leaves office.
Crazy thought:
Sonia Sotomayor is 69 years old. The dems currently control the senate, with enough of a majority to put another justice on the SCOTUS.
The dems are insane enough—they kicked Joe aside with less than 100 days before the election. I can see them kicking Joe out…
— Kevin Barre (@KevinBarre) November 6, 2024
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
