How Trump’s Supreme Court Appointment Could Return Him To The White House

Amy Coney Barrett was formally sworn in Tuesday as the ninth Supreme Court Justice, her oath administered privately by Chief Justice John Roberts. Her first court votes could include two major issues affecting the man who appointed her.

The court is considering a request from President Donald Trump to prevent the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax returns. He is also considering calls from the Trump campaign and Republicans to shorten the timeframe for receiving and counting absentee ballots in the states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Luzerne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, filed legal documents in court Tuesday arguing that Barrett should not be involved in the Pennsylvania case. It is unclear if he will vote on the pending cases, but he will make that call.

Barrett was confirmed Monday by the Senate in a 52-48 virtual party line vote. She is expected to begin working as a magistrate on Tuesday after taking the second of two oaths that federal law requires of judges. No judge has assumed office so close to the presidential elections or immediately faced issues so directly related to the political and personal fate of the incumbent president.

Barrett refused to commit to Democratic demands that he back away from any case on controversial issues, including a possible post-election dispute over the presidential results.

At 48, she is the youngest judge since Clarence Thomas joined the court in 1991 at age 43.

Other issues related to the elections are pending in the high court, which will also hear a clash of LGBTQ rights and religious freedoms next week.

The fate of the Affordable Care Act is on the agenda on November 10, and Trump himself reiterated his opposition to the Obama-era law last week. “I hope they finish it,” he said in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes.

On Friday, Barrett, the most outspoken opponent of abortion rights to join the court in decades, could also be called upon to weigh in on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. The state is appealing lower court rulings that invalidate the ban. Opponents of abortion in Pittsburgh are also challenging the so-called bubble zone that prevents protesters from getting too close to abortion clinics.

The court postponed acting in both cases before Barrett joined the court, offering no explanation in the Mississippi case. He ordered Pittsburgh to file a response to the appeal filed by the protesters, who call themselves curb counselors.

It is unclear whether the public will know how Barrett voted in the two abortion cases because the court generally does not release the vote count when it is considering whether to grant a full review of the cases.

Barrett joins the court at an unusual time. Magistrates are meeting remotely by phone due to the coronavirus pandemic, both for their private lectures and for their public discussion sessions, at least until the end of 2020. The public can hear the arguments as they unfold, a change also resulting from the court’s response to the pandemic.

After his first private conference with his new colleagues on Friday, two weeks of discussions begin on Monday. In an institution that pays strict attention to seniority, Barrett will be last in public and private sessions.

As she settles into her new courtroom office, Barrett will be accompanied by four legal clerks, usually recent law school graduates who have experience working for federal judges.

When the court reopens to the public and the judges return to the courtroom, Barrett is expected to take on various duties reserved for the junior court judge. She will be a member of the committee that oversees the public court cafeteria and the person who takes notes and opens the door when someone knocks during the judges’ private conferences. – AP