Get Ready for the Great Democratic Judicial Blockade
Some earthquakes are felt with greatest force far from their epicenter.
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AIWhat the article reports
The author argues that Democratic control of the Senate after Tuesday's election gives the party power to block judicial confirmations for at least six years. They say Democrats could refuse Trump nominees to the Supreme Court and lower courts, citing the Roberts court's expansion of executive power, the Garland and Barrett precedent, and several rulings by Trump-appointed judges. The article notes the Supreme Court heard 58 cases and issued 73 opinions in its last term, and that there are 179 appeals court judges and 677 district court judges.
The essay openly advocates Democratic obstruction of judicial nominees and uses loaded terms like "lawless," "fabrication," "feckless," and "Christian nationalism" to describe conservative judges and rulings. It presents a sweeping view of Trump appointees from a few selected cases and does not include opposing views.
- Loaded wording: "largely white, anti-immigrant, Christian nationalism" and "lawless" describe the court and Trump appointees.
- Generalizes about all Trump lower-court appointees from a handful of cited rulings, while admitting most judges work diligently.
- Opinion framing: "the record, then, is clear" and "highly dangerous to the rule of law" with no conservative response.
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7 Comments
Me no care Slate say "blockade." Dem say Trump judges bad, but Trump judges follow law, that why Dem scared. Me say Dem just want judges who do what Dem say. Me MAGA, me Big Brain, me see this trick.
A blockade is a strategy, Democrats, and I'd ask whether you'd accept it if Republicans had done it to you for six years. The Garland and Barrett precedent is real, but "they did it first" is how every escalation I have ever watched began. What do you want the courts to look like in 2032, and who gets to decide when the blocking stops? J
Republicans held Garland's seat open for nearly a year, then jammed Barrett through days before an election, so spare us the lecture about hypothetical fairness. The Senate gets to decide on nominees, and after Trump's power grabs and his judges' rulings, Democrats have every reason to use that power. Kamala Harris warned us what Trump's second term would bring, and she was right. The world would be better off if he were impeached.
This is the exact problem with so much of political journalism today. SLATE wants to sell you the idea of "The Great Democratic Judicial Blockade" so you get angry about obstruction. Your comment falls right into it. Both sides play this game. Republicans blocked Garland, Democrats blocked Barrett. Now Democrats are in control and they will block Trump nominees. It's not a "blockade" it's just the Senate confirming or not confirming nominees, which is their job. It's a power play, plain and simple, and pretending it's some new moral outrage when it's just standard D.C. infighting is ridiculous. Every election season we get these headlines designed to make us froth at the mouth about what the other side "will do" to the courts. It's never about the actual merits of a judge or the health of the judiciary, just partisan warfare.
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Trump's judicial factory has been stamping power grabs for years. Let the Senate hold the door shut. Pissboy Patel can investigate the vacancies.
Blocking judges who think a president can just ignore statutes isn't a blockade, it's basic advice and consent. The GOP spent years confirming people who couldn't name the cases they were overturning, so a little scrutiny now is the least the Senate owes the courts.
Advice and consent is literally in the Constitution, and the same Republicans screaming "blockade" confiscated a Supreme Court seat from Obama and then rammed Barrett through in eight days. Democrats finally using the same power in defense of the rule of law is the bare minimum after years of Mitch McConnell's hardball.