(Photo
by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
With
the
holiday
season
truly
over,
reality
is
careening
towards
the
second
Trump
presidency
at
an
alarming
rate.
And
everyone
is
busy
trying
to
predict
what
horrors
await
us
during
Trump
II,
but
it
seems
certain
the
effort
to
remake
the
judiciary
with
the
most
reactionary
jurists
possible
will
continue
apace.
The
upside,
such
as
it
is,
is
that
there
are
fewer
judicial
vacancies
awaiting
Donald
Trump
at
the
start
of
his
second
term
than
were
vacant
at
the
start
of
his
first
reign,
thanks
to
a
wildly
obstructionist
GOP-controlled
Senate
that
plagued
the
end
of
Barack
Obama’s
second
term
that
left
a
bunch
of
seats
open.
But
there
are
still
a
number
of
opportunities
for
the
balance
of
power
to
swing
dramatically
to
the
right.
As
reported
by
Bloomberg
Law,
there
are
a
number
of
district
courts
poised
to
feel
the
impact
of
Trump
nominees,
but
the
appellate
court
that
hangs
in
the
balance
is
the
Third
Circuit.
Trump
already
appointed
four
judges
to
that
bench
in
his
first
term,
and
the
defeat
of
Biden
nominee
Adeel
Mangi
plus
another
vacancy
that
never
got
a
nominee
means
a
real
shift
in
the
court.
If
Trump
is
able
to
fill
those
seats,
GOP-appointed
jurists
will
out
number
Democratic-appointed
ones,
8-6.
And
Republicans
are
practically
salivating
at
the
prospect.
As
former
Trump
White
House
lawyer
turned
ASS
Law
professor
Robert
Luther
III
said,
“As
Pennsylvania
continues
to
play
a
decisive
role
in
our
national
elections,
this
circuit
couldn’t
be
more
important.”
Fucking
fantastic.
The
Fifth
Circuit
might
soon
have
competition
for
the
MAGA
crown.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].