Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Independence From Trump | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: The author of this post is Mitch Kokai for the John Locke Foundation.

    Josh Blackman writes at National Review Online about the performance to date of President Trump's two U.S. Supreme Court appointees.

  • Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, perhaps more than any other Supreme Court justices in modern history, are closely connected to the president who appointed them. ... That past cannot be erased, but a new prologue is being written. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh know full well that Trump's tenure is limited. These Gen-Xers may serve nearly half a century, long after the memory of President Donald J. Trump is relegated to the history books. And after the July 4 weekend, the two Trump appointees formally declared their independence from him.
  • On the final day of the Supreme Court's term, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh voted against Trump in the New York tax-return case. The vote was 7-2. Well, sort of. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh did not join Chief Justice John Roberts's majority opinion, which held that the president was not entitled to special protections against the subpoena. Nor did they join the dissents of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both of whom concluded that the subpoenas were unconstitutional. Instead, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch wrote a separate concurrence, which walked a narrow tightrope between the Court's two poles. On paper at least, they narrowly ruled against Trump. ... But their opinion laid the foundation to broadly expand the power of the presidency in the future. ...
  • ... I view this concurrence as something of a compromise. On the one hand, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh generally favor a broad conception of executive power. The two junior members of the Court were not prepared to join the chief's opinion, which handcuffs the president's autonomy and alters the balance of authority between the federal and state governments.
  • On the other hand, in this case too, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh likely could not be seen as voting in favor of the president who appointed them — especially after their contentious confirmations.

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Questioning the Consensus View of Recent Riots John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Supreme Court Faces Another Appeal From Church Facing COVID-19 Restrictions


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

populist / nationalist anti-immigration AfD most popular party among young voters, CDU second
Barr had previously said he would jump off a bridge before supporting Trump
illegal alien "asylum seeker" migrants are a crime wave on both sides of the Atlantic

HbAD1

Decision is a win for election integrity. NC should do the same.
Biden regime intends to force public school compliance as well as colleges
prosecutors appeal acquittal of member of parliament in lower court for posting Bible verse
Biden abuses power to turn statute on its head; womens groups to sue
The Missouri Senate approved a constitutional amendment to ban non-U.S. citizens from voting and also ban ranked-choice voting.
Democrats prosecuting political opponets just like foreign dictrators do

HbAD2

populist / nationalist / sovereigntist right are kingmakers for new government
18 year old boy who thinks he is girl planned to shoot up elementary school in Maryland
Biden assault on democracy continues to build as he ramps up dictatorship
One would think that the former Attorney General would have known better
UNC board committee votes unanimously to end DEI in UNC system
Police in the nation’s capital are not stopping illegal aliens who are driving around without license plates, according to a new report.
Davidaon County student suspended for using correct legal term for those in country illegally

HbAD3

 
Back to Top