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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...

"This president is the subject of a criminal investigation," Booker said. "Here you have a president that's making a whole lot of loyalty tests and other things from people." While Special Counsel Robert Mueller told Trump's lawyers in March he is under investigation, Trump is not considered a "criminal target," . . . Booker testified as a character witness on behalf of his colleague Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), when he was on trial for public corruption for accepting bribes from his long-time friend Dr. Salomon Melgen, in exchange for political favors.

Liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer are 85 and 79-years-old, respectively, so it’s not unforeseeable that Trump could get to fill two more seats before he leaves the White House, potentially guaranteeing a conservative majority on the court for decades to come. Now some liberals argue Democrats should simply expand the number of court seats — and then immediately fill the new ones with left-wing jurists — as soon as they take back control of Congress and the White House. The Constitution doesn’t require a set number of seats on the court and leaves that power to Congress,...

In a stunning late night Facebook Live video, Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee pleaded with Donald Trump to step aside and give up his nomination for president. The video, which Lee filmed from his home in Utah, is like many on Facebook Live — a single person, speaking to the camera, spreading a message.

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators running for re-election in red states where President Donald Trump remains popular face an agonizing choice over his coming Supreme Court nominee: Vote to confirm the pick and risk demoralizing Democratic voters ahead of the midterm elections, or stick with the party and possibly sacrifice their own seats — and any chance at a Democratic majority in 2019. The actions of a handful of Senate Democrats struggling to hold their seats in those states — notably Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — will have broad implications...

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) detailed how Democrats can push Republican Senators to oppose President Trump's "extreme" and "ideological" yet to be named Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee in the weekly Democratic weekly address. Murray said those who would like to go back to the days "when women had to seek out back-alley abortions" want you to feel "powerless." She asked listeners to tell people who aren't "fired up yet" to please "tweet, post, march, call, and write" your elected officials.