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The coronavirus and the fight against it. The situation at home and in the world.
Just over a week before the presidential election, Donald Trump achieved the greatest success of his presidency to date. The Senate approved Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court with a 52:48 vote of Republican senators only. In electing Barrett, the third Chief Justice Trump could nominate, conservative justices close to Republicans on the US Supreme Judicial Panel had a two-thirds majority.
Barrett’s election was not purely partisan simply because a single Republican senator, in a state that was fighting for reelection but was disadvantaged in its Democratic state, did not vote for the Susan Collins promise. Collins was the only party that believed that it would not have been possible to nominate a chief judge so shortly before the presidential elections, it would have been better to wait for the election result and leave the chief judge to the possible winner, Collins’ argument was Not eight days, but eight months before the presidential election, Barack Obama was prevented from filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The post of Chief Justice, then vacant, could already be filled by Donald Trump.
The Republicans’ tactics four years ago have now paid off. It was then that the liberal wing, which had been in a minority on the Supreme Court for decades, was prevented from becoming a majority, and now, after the death of liberal wing leader Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barrett was chosen to perpetuate the conservative majority for decades. The Chief Justice is elected for life in the United States, and under Trump’s presidency, the conservative faction has been completely rejuvenated. Barrett, for example, is only 48, while the oldest board member, liberal Stephen Breyer, is 82.
During Barrett’s nomination, hearing, and election, Democrats protested loudly at all times. They knew nothing else and, according to the rules of procedure, they had no option to postpone either the nomination or the election. Republicans were able to prevent Obama from becoming Chief Justice in 2016 due to his Senate majority, while Democrats are in the minority. For now at least, next Tuesday’s election is projected to have a good chance of winning a Senate majority.
This may now affect the fight for the Supreme Court only to the extent that if they acquire the presidency in addition to the majority in the Senate, they would have a theoretical opportunity to expand the Supreme Court. This is because the US Constitution does not specify the size of the board, so in principle, they could do so by creating a liberal majority on the board by adding four new justices. This has been openly raised by various Democratic politicians, but presidential candidate Joe Biden has refused to publicly commit to the plan. In the run-up to the presidential elections, he said he would study the possibility of judicial reform more generally and for a longer period of time. (Via The New York Times)
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