Free Republic

Here is a simple rule: you can judge the caliber of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee by how angry the Democrats get. The smarter and more influential the nominee, in an important sense the more qualified they are, the angrier Democrats will get.

Democrats are in a state of sheer panic. They're panicking because last week, Justice Anthony Kennedy -- a reliable vote in favor of certain leftist priorities including abortion and same-sex marriage -- announced that he will step down from the Supreme Court, leaving President Trump a second selection. This apparently will lead to the end of a free America. According to Jeffrey Toobin of CNN, the remade Supreme Court will spell doom: "Abortion illegal, doctors prosecuted, gay people barred from restaurants, hotels, stores; African-Americans out of elite schools, gun control banned in 50 states, the end of regulatory state." None...

As President Donald Trump moves closer to nominating a Supreme Court justice, Democrats are scrambling for a strategy to stop a nominee that would tilt the court in a more conservative direction and reverse liberal gains. The retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy was a swing voter who at times sided with the court’s liberal and conservative wings. Trump now has the chance to alter the court’s ideological balance in a manner that could reshape fundamental aspects of American life. (TWEET-AT-LINK) Liberals fear their favored positions on everything from abortion rights to marriage equality to affirmative action could be threatened. Some also...

Judicial Watch's founder and conservative former federal prosecutor Larry Klayman supports Chicago Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill a soon-to-be vacated Supreme Court seat — but thinks Democrats are “already trying to smear her.” Klayman said he likes that Barrett — reportedly one of President Donald Trump’s leading contenders for nomination — is not a graduate of either Harvard or Yale law schools. “From what I’ve read about her, I like Judge Barrett,” Klayman said. “She's obviously a woman. That’s good. Politically it’s going to be hard for the Democrats to have much objection to her. But they’re...

It’s safe to say that the left is in full-blown panic mode over the Supreme Court vacancy and have already begun viciously targeting possible Trump pick and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett over her conservative values, her Catholic faith, and, most of all, her gender.  A Tuesday afternoon CNN Newsroom segment illustrated that with guest and Daily Beast contributing editor Erin Gloria Ryan asserting that, if President Trump selects a woman, they “should be known as the Aunt Lydia of the Supreme Court” in reference to a villain from liberal dystopian show The Handmaid’s Tale. In addition,...

Organized labor, already reeling from a potentially major financial hit thanks to a Supreme Court ruling last week that could result in millions of public-sector workers cutting off funding, could be subject to another blow from the justices: class-action suits from those workers seeking to get paid back from the unions. In a little-noticed action, the Supreme Court invalidated a ruling last week by the 7th Circuit Court denying class-action certification in a case called Riffey v. Rauner. The case involved nonunion state-subsidized Illinois home healthcare workers seeking to be repaid the funds that for years they were forced to...

Republicans theoretically have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, but in practice, it has been 50-49, since John McCain has left the Senate due to his brain cancer and shows no signs of returning. This makes it difficult for the Senate to pass legislation, of course, but since the Senate needs 60 votes for most matters, McCain's absence is not critical. ...except for judicial nominees. Under current rules, only a majority of senators is needed to approve judicial nominees. That's why every senator counts. With McCain's absence, if one Republican senator defects, and no Democrats support Trump's Supreme Court nominee,...

The Left expected Anthony Kennedy to not only write and join progressive decisions, but also to chain himself to his chair like a protester until a Democrat won the presidency. It is easy to understand why conservatives are not sad about Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement: “Kennedy did not owe conservatives decisions that they liked[, but] the conscientious application of the law [and] they did not get it.” It is easy to see why progressives are sad: they fear his successor will be worse, from their perspective. In this context, it might be less easy to see why progressives...

Trump’s highly publicized list of potential Supreme Court nominees has given liberals plenty of time to craft a campaign against his pick. It’s the list that won him the presidency. President Donald Trump’s widely publicized list of potential Supreme Court nominees brought conservative doubters — including evangelicals — to the highly unconventional Republican nominee’s side. It prevented them from fleeing as the “Access Hollywood” tape threatened to tank Trump’s campaign. And it reassured them throughout Trump’s turbulent presidency, especially when he pulled from it to ensure Justice Neil Gorsuch’s smooth ascent to the high court. Now, it’s warding off the...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate who was one of five senators to meet with President Trump on Thursday about the Supreme Court vacancy, said she told him she's "looking for a nominee that would demonstrate a respect for precedence" and suggested he venture beyond his campaign-era list of 25 judicial candidates approved by the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation. "The White House counsel told me that there have been a few additional potential nominees added to that list," Collins told ABC this morning. "But I think the president should not feel bound by that list and instead...

Michael Moore appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and urged fellow liberals not to give up hope on the inevitable confirmation of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. Bill Maher began by asking Moore about the “Hail Mary” plan he supposedly had to prevent the replacement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. “Listen, the Senate right now is 50-49. Sadly, McCain will not be able to vote, so it’s a 50-49 vote,” Moore declared. “C’mon! We’ve got to push it off til after November.” “And I don’t trust every Democrat,” Maher told Moore. “We’ve got to hold the Democratic seats we...

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, suggested that President Trump's pick to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court should recuse themselves from any potential court decisions that relate to the special prosecutor's ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. "The president should not be permitted to appoint a justice who will decide whether or not he complies with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury or pardons himself," Blumenthal said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I believe that whoever is appointed ought to recuse himself and commit to recusing himself from those kinds of decisions that affect...

As battle lines are drawn for the coming fight over Donald Trump’s second supreme court nominee, a senator who could help to decide the fate of the nomination warned on Sunday that a justice who would seek to reverse federal abortion rights protections “would not be acceptable”. “A candidate for this important position who would overturn Roe v Wade would not be acceptable to me because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have,” Republican senator Susan Collins told ABC’s This Week, referring to the 1973 court decision protecting abortion rights. Trump, however,...

In these hyperbolic times, it's easy to fall into overstatement. Somehow, the farm-to-table dining preferences of Sarah Huckabee Sanders or the subliminal, sartorial messages of the first lady have become the subject of breathless debate. Cotton-candy controversies swirl for a moment and then disappear. The replacement of retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is not like that. It is, to paraphrase former Vice President Joe Biden, a big doggone deal. So big that Biden's old boss, former President Barack Obama, has descended from his Olympian remove to fire up the troops Thursday. He urged Democrats to quit moping, avoid complacency...

Bill Maher began by asking Moore about the “Hail Mary” plan he supposedly had to prevent the replacement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. “Listen, the Senate right now is 50-49. Sadly, McCain will not be able to vote, so it’s a 50-49 vote,” Moore declared. “C’mon! We’ve got to push it off til after November.” “And I don’t trust every Democrat,” Maher told Moore. “I’ll join a million other people surrounding the United States Capitol,” Moore responded. “I will stand there. I will put my- Bill, let me tell you something. If this judge goes through, for at least the rest...

Getting the Supreme Court Back on Track Federal Judge Slams Justice Department for Stonewalling on ‘Russiagate’ Judicial Watch Files Complaint Against Rep. Waters for Inciting Violence and Assaults Happy Independence Day! Getting the Supreme Court Back on Track We are pleased that Justice Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court will provide President Trump another opportunity to nominate a constitutional conservative who will honor the Constitution and the rule of law, rather than legislate from the bench. And the U.S. Senate should move quickly to work with President Trump to consider and approve a new justice who will apply the...

Wednesday’s retirement announcement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy sparked strong reactions from both right and left, but the takes from so-called #NeverTrumpers, or ideological conservatives who opposed President Trump in 2016, ranged from “crickets” to eating some much-deserved crow.

There’s a lot of chatter about “The McConnell Rule.” There shouldn’t be, because it’s immaterial. The Senate gets to decide what to do with judicial nominations; everything else is just shouting. In 2016, the Senate was controlled by Republicans. A Democratic president sent that Senate a nomination it didn’t like, and that Senate decided not to act on it... This decision was dressed up by Mitch McConnell as “the Biden Rule.” In 2018, the Senate still gets to decide. Now that Justice Kennedy has retired, the Senate, which is still run by Republicans, will be sent a nominee. If it...

On Wednesday’s “Hannity” opening monologue, a list of judges on President Trump’s list to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy was presented in a fast-running backdrop. A complete list can be found here. Kennedy’s retirement, announced earlier on Wednesday, immediately spurred discussion as to who Trump might nominate to his seat. Constitutionally, all potential cabinet members and federal court nominees must be confirmed by a majority of the U.S. Senate. The Senate currently consists of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and two Independents. In November, one-third of the chamber will face re-election or replacement. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is unlikely to...

The short answer: No WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - With Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's momentous announcement Wednesday that he'd be retiring, the focus now turns to the fight over the new Court vacancy. Democrats won't have the leverage they've had in the past, as Republicans exercised the "nuclear option" in last year's battle to seat Justice Neil Gorsuch. After heated confirmation hearings, Democrats filibustered the vote, and Republicans made good on their promise to change Senate rules, voting to ensure cloture (the vote to end the filibuster) no longer requires a supermajority. "This will be the first and last partisan filibuster...