Allison
Eid
(via
U.S.
Senate
Judiciary
Committee)
It’s
easy
to
forget
that
Neil
Gorsuch
wasn’t
the
only
beneficiary
of
Mitch
McConnell’s
plan
to
steal
a
Supreme
Court
seat.
The
Republican
senator
kept
the
seat
vacated
by
Antonin
Scalia’s
death
open
for
over
a
year
to
prevent
Barack
Obama
from
appointing
his
successor,
which
led
to
Gorsuch
taking
over
the
mantle.
But
someone
else
benefitted
—
Allison
H.
Eid
got
Gorsuch’s
old
seat
on
the
10th
Circuit
when
he
moved
to
Washington,
D.C.,
and
it
looks
like
she
learned
a
lesson
about
how
judicial
politics
really
works.
The
10th
Circuit
recently
heard
an
appeal
of
a
case
brought
by
a
plaintiff
who
sought
to
keep
Donald
Trump
off
the
2024
presidential
ballot.
The
plaintiff
lost
at
the
trial
court
level,
and
Trump
appeared
on
the
ballot
and
wound
up
winning
the
election.
The
majority
held,
inter
alia,
that
the
plaintiff’s
claim
is
moot
because
Trump
is
serving
his
second
term
and
the
22nd
Amendment
means
he
won’t
be
appearing
on
the
presidential
ballot
again.
But
where’s
the
self-serving
attention
in
that?
Incredulously,
Judge
Eid
went
out
of
her
way
to
slam
her
colleagues
for
“opin[ing]”
on
the
22nd
Amendment,
then
called
the
question
of
a
third
Trump
term
in
office
a
“novel
and
complex
constitutional
question.”
This
is
actually
not
a
difficult
or
complicated
legal
question
at
all
—
the
22nd
Amendment
is
pretty
dang
clear.
Trump
cannot,
constitutionally,
run
for
the
presidency
again.
And
with
Donald
Trump
already
making
noise
about
a
third
term
in
office,
Eid’s
words
don’t
read
like
that
of
a
circumspect
jurist.
No,
it
*looks*
like
she’s
taking
a
page
from
James
Ho’s
book
and
letting
Trump
know
just
how
useful
she’d
be
on
the
Supreme
Court.
Like
Ho,
Eid
clerked
for
Clarence
Thomas
and
this
short
but
effective
concurrence
may
be
enough
to
signal
Eid
has
some
interest
in
replacing
her
old
boss
on
the
Court.
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
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@Kathryn1 or
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