“I’m not only mad, I’m disappointed.” (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Remember last week when conservative gadflies were clutching their monkey’s paws and hoping against hope that they could see TWO open Supreme Court seats? Thomas was going to retire — like they assert every year — and the “stronger rumor” claimed Alito was also eyeing retirement. It was a weird wish for conservatives because as we all know it’s impossible to fill a Supreme Court vacancy during an election year. Mitch McConnell couldn’t have been lying to cover a dereliction of his constitutional duty back then!
But earlier today, all those conservative smiles turned upside down as Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority in shooting down Trump’s meritless arguments that the president never has to comply with subpoenas for his records. Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito stood alone athwart 200 years of law yelling “but not for our guy.” And, yeah, the opinions are both kind of punts and Trump is likely to succeed in running out the clock on these subpoenas until after the election, but he wanted a ruling putting a stop to these cases and he got… not that.
Thomas and Alito must have walked out of that conference wondering, “and they plan to replace us with cucks like these guys?” And if that didn’t run through the justices’ heads, it certainly is silencing all the cheerleaders eagerly pushing them out the door last week. Poor Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are getting canceled by the right… maybe Harper’s will let them whine and cry about it too.
Look, a retirement announcement probably wasn’t likely. Sitting Supreme Court justices possess all the ego required for a job of that magnitude and generally see themselves as beautiful and unique snowflakes that cannot be replaced with the next kid on the bench. But if there was any lingering belief on their part — or on the part of conservative observers — that Trump could replace their perspective, watching Bizarro Justice Garland and Justice Keggy McAssaulterton III throw the White House under the bus, it’s hard to imagine they feel that a future justice could do any better when Trump’s top two choices are already running wild.
It is a dumb stance to take.
Roberts, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh just looked at the scoreboard and realized that it’s more important to protect the coming deep dive into Hunter Biden and Ukraineghazi than to throw it all away to bail out a White House on fire. And, of course, a younger FedSoc appointee would absolutely help the right by locking down seats for a generation with full confidence that they would win far more battles than they would lose. However, the conservative movement generally isn’t about strategy as much as knee jerk ideological purity and that ideology is “whatever Trump wants right now.”
Maybe the justices will make a move anyway — there’s no rule requiring them to have announced after the last opinion this morning — but don’t expect the sort of hoopla envisioned last week.
Earlier: Clarence Thomas AND Samuel Alito Mulling Retirement According Conservative Wishcasters
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.