The Supreme Court could be last line of defense in another Trump coup attempt: conservative

21 July 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court leaned conservative long before Donald J. Trump was elected president in 2016, but the GOP-appointed justices of the past — from Ronald Reagan appointees Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor to Gerald Ford pick John Paul Stevens — had a lot more complexity and nuance than the 2023 Roberts Court. Trump, critics argue, left behind a Supreme Court dominated by radical-right ideologues.

Numerous right-wing pundits have been slamming Democrats for their relentless criticism of the Roberts Court. The Bulwark's Charlie Sykes, in a column published by The Bulwark on July 20, also cautions Democrats against trying to "delegitimize" the justices. But unlike most conservative pundits, he is coming at it from a vehemently anti-Trump perspective.

Sykes argues that if Trump wins the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, loses the general election, and makes another coup attempt, the High Court could be Democrats' last line of defense. And in that scenario, according to Sykes, the last thing the Court should be is "delegitimized."

"Now that Trump faces a cascade of new indictments," Sykes warns, "the campaign to delegitimize the entire justice system will be supercharged — not just in unhinged ALL CAPS rants, but in the increasing willingness of the GOP to make obstruction of justice a central feature of its agenda…. He has systematically assaulted the norms and the institutions that might hold him accountable or in check — including, or perhaps especially, the justice system itself."

Sykes adds that it is "unforgivably naïve to expect" a GOP-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to "act as a check on Trump 2.0" if he "tried to steal another election."

"Like it or not, in our constitutional system, the Court may be the last bulwark of liberal constitutional democracy," Sykes emphasizes. "Which brings us to an uncomfortable truth. After Watergate, the Court enjoyed a rise in public esteem, but the current Court is suffering from a deficit of trust, including widespread attacks on its 'legitimacy' from progressives."

The Never Trump conservative goes on to say that while "some of the" liberal and progressive "concerns" about the Roberts Court are "valid," painting the Court as totally illegitimate could work to Trump's advantage.

"There is plenty of room for outrage and disagreement here, but questioning the legitimacy of the Court is something else altogether," Sykes emphasizes. "And if the jihad to delegitimize the Court succeeds, it will give Trump an invaluable gift…. On the most obvious level, Trump and his supporters would once again refuse to accept the legitimacy of the election results because they refuse to accept the legitimacy even of a conservative Supreme Court. Worse: Trump and his supporters would simply ignore the rulings."

When the Roberts Court wrapped up its most recent term, it left behind a series of rulings that have infuriated liberals and progressives. The Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions as well as President Joe Biden's student debt relief program.

In an article published on July 20, The New Republic's Matt Ford takes a look at what may lie ahead in the Court's next term.

"While the Court often makes history," Ford explains, "it rarely makes so much so quickly. The upcoming term's docket doesn't have as many high-profile cases at the moment. But in two notable instances, the justices are poised to tackle another conservative legal movement priority: reshaping the relationship between Congress, the executive branch, and the federal regulatory agencies they oversee."

Two Supreme Court cases to keep a close eye on, according to Ford, are Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.

Ford observes, "At issue (in Consumer Financial Protection) is whether the CFPB’s funding structure is unconstitutional…. Loper Bright involves a challenge to one of the lesser-known federal agencies: the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is charged with protecting fisheries in American waters from overfishing and other long-term threats."

Read Charlie Sykes' full column for The Bulwark at this link and find The New Republic's article here.

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