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Bombshell Paper Shows Democrats Likely Won’t Regain Majority Control of Supreme Court Until 2065 – Unless They Expand It

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A newly-revised bombshell paper by four school law professors finds Democrats are unlikely to be able to regain majority control of the U.S. Supreme Court for four more decades, until 2065, unless they expand the number of justices on the nation’s highest court.

That finding follows weeks, and indeed years, worth of allegations of corruption against the conservative jurists themselves, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, the spouse of Chief Justice John Roberts, and earlier, Antonin Scalia.

Political strategist and former Media Matters vice president Jamison Foser notes this would mean “96 consecutive years of a Republican Supreme Court majority.”

“The Endgame of Court-Packing,” is a paper that “uses simulations based on assumptions about the results of elections, justice retirement, etc to predict what might happen with the Supreme Court’s composition for the next century,” notes one of its authors, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law Professor Daniel Epps, a “a nationally recognized expert on the Supreme Court” according to his bio.

READ MORE: Clarence Thomas in 2001: Being a Supreme Court Justice Is ‘Not Worth Doing for What They Pay’

Revealing how just one decision can change the course of history, Epps on social media points to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18, 2020 and was replaced just weeks later by Republican President Donald Trump, just before the election he lost.

Had Justice Ginsburg “retired under a D[emocratic] president (or had [Merrick] Garland been confirmed) Democrats would likely have retaken control by 2029, and would control the Court for about half of the next century,” Epps writes.

One of the paper’s authors, Harvard professor Maya Sen, frames their most concerning finding this way: “To bring this home,” she writes, “an 18 year old today will likely not see a Democratic-appointed majority on the Supreme Court probably until their 50s or 60s,” and, “people in their 40s right now will probably never see another Dem-appointed majority in their lifetimes.”

While the papers authors use the term “court-packing,” widely viewed as a negative expression of the concept of adding more justices to the nation’s highest court, the concept dates back at least as far as 1937, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed a plan to expand the number of justices to possibly 15.

Rutgers Law School professor David Noll in October of 2020 wrote that Army Coney Barrett’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court “is classic court packing. The president nominated a hardline conservative who appears to question major parts of U.S. constitutional law. And the Senate majority changed its procedural rules – invented to deny Merrick Garland a hearing – to ram through the nomination as people were voting.”

READ MORE: Watch: Dem Senator’s Viral Video Reveals Scalia Accepted Over 70 Undisclosed Gifts of Vacations Like Clarence Thomas

“If Democrats respond to the Barrett appointment by expanding the size of the Court, the immediate effect will be to further diminish the Court’s standing and make it hard for anyone to take the Supreme Court seriously,” he wrote, unaware of the corruption scandals that would be swirling around all the right-wing justices just a few years later.

“Paradoxically, I think that’s a good development. Restoring a sense of balance to the Court will require Republicans and Democrats to come together and agree on new rules for how justices are chosen and the kind of jurists who serve on the Court.”

Others have proposed expanding the Supreme Court to 13, which would make more sense because not would accurately reflect the number of federal circuits, which the Supreme Court justices oversee.

In 2021, four Democratic members of the House and Senate called for expanding the court by four seats.

“Republicans stole the Court’s majority, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation completing their crime spree,” Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) said in a statement that year. “Of all the damage Donald Trump did to our Constitution, this stands as one of his greatest travesties. Senate Republicans have politicized the Supreme Court, undermined its legitimacy, and threatened the rights of millions of Americans, especially people of color, women, and our immigrant communities.”

“Nine justices may have made sense in the nineteenth century when there were only nine circuits, and many of our most important federal laws—covering everything from civil rights, to antitrust, the internet, financial regulation, health care, immigration, and white collar crime—simply did not exist, and did not require adjudication by the Supreme Court,” said then-House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler. “But the logic behind having only nine justices is much weaker today, when there are 13 circuits. Thirteen justices for thirteen circuits is a sensible progression, and I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing the Judiciary Act of 2021.”

The 56-page paper‘s authors are Adam Chilton, University of Chicago – Law School; Daniel Epps, Washington University in St. Louis – School of Law; Kyle Rozema, Washington University in St. Louis – School of Law; and Maya Sen, Harvard University – Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

 

 

Image: Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks via Flickr

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‘Impossible to Lose’: Trump Pitches Strategy to Cement One-Party Rule

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President Donald Trump renewed his demand that Republican senators eliminate the 60-vote filibuster, which he sees as one of the biggest roadblocks to achieving his far-reaching agenda. Now, he said he wants to eliminate the filibuster as a way to ensure permanent Republican control of the government.

The president has been calling for senators to act, despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s strong opposition to invoking the “nuclear option.”

In a lengthy Truth Social post last week, Trump expressed his agenda.

“It is now time for the Republicans to play their ‘TRUMP CARD,’ and go for what is called the Nuclear Option — Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!” he declared.

READ MORE: Trump Admin Starts Setting Stage for Recession — and Shifting the Blame

He warned that Democrats want to “substantially expand (PACK!) the United States Supreme Court, make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico States (Thereby automatically picking up 4 Senate seats, many House seats, and at least 8 Electoral Votes!), and many other highly destructive things.”

“Well, now WE are in power, and if we did what we should be doing, it would IMMEDIATELY end this ridiculous, Country destroying ‘SHUT DOWN.'”

Trump then admitted: “I want to do it in order to take advantage of the Democrats….”

Trump has repeated his call to end the filibuster several times since then, most recently on Friday afternoon.

“The Democrats will do this,” he said of killing the filibuster, “so if the Democrats are gonna do it, I’m saying Republicans should do it before they get a chance.”

“It’s very simple,” Trump explained.

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

“And if we do it, we will never lose the midterms, and we will never lose the general election, because we will have produced so many different things for our people — for the people, for the country — that it would be impossible to lose an election.”

Critics quickly weighed in with warnings.

“I thought the vice president Vance statement about ignoring judges would be it for today,” wrote The Steady State, a group of over 350 former national security and intelligence officials, referring to JD Vance’s apparent suggestion to ignore a federal judge’s order to release about $6 billion in SNAP funds.

“President Trump went a little farther in terms of crossing yet another red line,” the group continued, “explaining why he wants [the] filibuster gone he is very clear. One party rule. Elections that he and his never lose —— that is autocracy.”

READ MORE: ‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Unique Action’: Trump Admin Spins Flight Cancellations as Fix for Traveling Frustration

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U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sought Friday to cast a positive light on the Federal Aviation Administration’s order requiring airlines to cut ten percent of flights at 40 major airports — a move prompted by overworked air traffic controllers who have gone weeks without pay as the government shutdown stretches into its 38th day with no immediate end in sight.

More than 800 flights nationwide were canceled on Friday, leaving some travelers “scrambling to figure out backup plans,” the Associated Press reported.

But According to Secretary Duffy, he has come up with a “unique action” that reduces a major frustration of air travel: flight delays.

READ MORE: Trump Admin Starts Setting Stage for Recession — and Shifting the Blame

“I asked the head of the air traffic controller union to reach out to his controllers, to ask them to show up. It is their jobs,” Duffy said on Friday.

“If they start coming to work, we may have the same experience we had in Newark: We had delays and cancellations in Newark in the early summer. We reduced the capacity, and then the flights were on time. Right?”

“It was the most on-time months we had in Newark ever,” he added. “So that could be an outcome of what we’re doing, and we’ll see probably more people on less flights, which means less pressure on controllers.”

READ MORE: ‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

Secretary Duffy also said, “There’s a very easy solution to the problem that they put directly on my lap, which is open the damn government. Vote to open the government, so those who snipe at me for having to take really unique action — they put that on my plate.”

Critics blasted Duffy.

Republican former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger wrote: “Cutting flights because of the govt shutdown is a stunt, plain and simple.”

He also remarked, “We’re cutting flights and food because of the govt shutdown but ICE is out [in] full force!”

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

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Trump Admin Starts Setting Stage for Recession — and Shifting the Blame

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The Trump administration has begun quietly preparing Americans for the possibility that the economy may be nearing a recession — a broad and painful downturn that officials appear increasingly concerned may be on the horizon.

Economist Kevin Hassett, director of the Trump White House’s National Economic Council, on Friday laid both the groundwork and the blame for any impending recession.

“There’s holiday travel, but there’s business travel,” he told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cut ten percent of flights — about 700 — in 40 high-volume markets across the country as air traffic controllers, who have not been paid in weeks due to the federal government shutdown, are increasingly overworked and under financial strain.

“Business travel is a really big, important part of air travel, and if ten percent of business travel isn’t happening, those are deals that aren’t being cut, and hotel rooms that aren’t being filled,” Hassett explained. “And so the ripple effects, and then the multiplier effects of all that, are really, really large.”

READ MORE: ‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

“And so I think Secretary Bessent wisely said we’re starting to see pockets of the economy that look like they might be in a recession, that we’re not in a recession because of this, but there are pockets that are really hurting,” he added. “And if we go another month or so, then who knows how bad the economy could be this quarter?”

“And we know whose fault that will be,” Hassett said.

Hassett was referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s remarks earlier this week.

“I think that there are sectors of the economy that are in recession,” Bessent said on CNN on Sunday, as The New York Times reported.

“He described the economy as being in a ‘period of transition’ because of a pullback in government spending to reduce the deficit,” the Times added. “He called on the Fed[eral Reserve] to support the economy by cutting interest rates.”

The Times also explained the White House’s strategy:

“Mr. Bessent’s remarks added to pressure on the Fed and deflected blame from Mr. Trump in case the economy does ultimately face a downturn, reinforcing a strategy that has been in place since the start of the year. As the administration has imposed aggressive tariffs on nearly all of America’s trading partners and slashed federal spending, potentially slowing growth, it has sought to pin blame squarely on the Fed in the event of an economic downturn.”

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’

But Hassett’s remarks appeared focused on pinning the blame for a possible recession on the shutdown of the federal government, which Republicans and the White House insist is the fault of Democrats.

President Donald Trump has railed against the Democrats over the shutdown, while increasingly demanding the Senate end it by going “nuclear” and eliminating the upper chamber’s 60-vote threshold for the filibuster, opting instead for a simple majority of votes to pass legislation.

For example, on Tuesday in a Truth Social post, President Trump vowed to hold up SNAP funds despite court orders, writing that food stamp benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Hunger Caucus Head Slams GOP for ‘Starving Children’ by ‘Weaponizing’ SNAP

 

Image via Reuters

 

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