Trump counts judgeships, not sheep
Court packing is vigorously fomented these days, but only one argument is advanced to sway our thinking. It is this: if Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, is confirmed by the Senate, then Joe Biden, if elected the 46th president next month, will retaliate by expanding the number of justices on the high court to 12, 15 or some other number.
The advanced spin to squelch expansion of the high court, which could blunt the court’s conservative leaning, is to label such a move a sinister political ploy. History lesson: The number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court changed six times, ranging from as few as five to as many as 10, before settling on the present nine in 1869.
Truth is, Trump and a pliant Republican-led Senate, both eager to rush Coney Barrett’s confirmation, are the shrewd masters at court packing.
The Republican-controlled Senate, remember, refused to hold hearings on former President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Scalia died eight months prior to a presidential election, won by Trump in 2016. Too close to an important presidential election to consider Obama’s Supreme Court appointee, the argument went, adding that voters should pick the president who should then nominate his pick. Garland’s nomination languished without any Senate hearings. A victorious Trump picked Brett Kavanaugh, who ultimately got Senate approval.
Just weeks from the 2020 election when millions of votes have already been cast, the confirmation of Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would further pack the Supreme Court to a 6-3 conservative bent. Forget about what we said about confirming Supreme Court justices so close to a national election, Trump and his Republican hypocritical followers now want us to believe.
Remember, too, that Trump has zealously advanced his goal of packing the federal courts, particularly the district appeals courts whose rulings are the final barrier to any Supreme Court challenge.
Trump, with Senate leader Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Kentucky) acquiescence, has padded the federal courts with conservative judges – 216 in fact. Many were open seats because McConnell refused to advance for Senate approval, which is necessary, Obama’s picks. It is Trump who is packing the federal court. And with a real possibility of losing reelection next month, he will no longer be president come Jan. 20, 2021.
Maybe Trump is so at ease padding the federal judiciary because he falls asleep propped with pillows by Mike Lindell, the My Pillow Guy, who is a cozy, devoted supporter of the president. Instead of counting sheep to fall to sleep, Trump counts judgeships herded by McConnell.
Richard Ringer
Uniontown