Significant Victories for Trump in Crucial Cases, Rejected Requests Mark Supreme Court's Term
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Title: Trump Records Major Supremes Victories, but Battle with Federal Judiciary Continues
The President's Wins
Donald Trump has had cause to celebrate this past week, as the conservative Supreme Court wrapped up its term, delivering him a series of major victories. However, whispers of the longstanding feud between the administration and the federal judiciary seemed far from over.
Immigrant rights advocates rushed to lower courts post-decision, seeking to thwart Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship through class-action lawsuits. The future of these cases will undoubtedly find their way back to the Supreme Court in the near term.
The court's ruling on Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, also delivering a 6-3 decision a week earlier, serves as protection for similar bans in conservative states. Nevertheless, the judgment didn't address other legal disputes concerning transgender athletes and health insurance coverage.
As Cecillia Wang, the Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, told CNN, "In the high-profile cases, you see the court departing from settled precedent, changing the rules of the road, but ultimately leaving a lot open to be decided in the future. It leaves us room to fight another day."
This past term, the Supreme Court issued 62 opinions, including many that have faded from memory. Pre-Trump inauguration, the court upheld a controversial ban on TikTok, an issue that the president subsequently bypassed. In March, the majority upheld Biden-era federal regulations on "ghost guns," mail-order kits that allow homemade, untraceable weapons.
Political Fireworks
Since returning to power in January, Trump and his allies have been engaged in a relentless battle of words against the federal judiciary. However, in recent weeks, the Supreme Court has provided the White House reason to cheer.
The birthright citizenship decision was the most high-profile success, but the court has also supported the administration in a series of less sensational emergency docket cases. In the midst of the week, the Supreme Court granted Trump's urgent request to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their homeland, even places teetering on the brink of war like South Sudan.
Trump has secured clear victories in eight out of the last ten emergency cases the court has decided, including rulings favoring the administration on issues such as the end of humanitarian parole, access to sensitive Social Security data, and transgender Americans serving in the military.
Birthright Citizenship Boomerang
As the Supreme Court's term comes to a close, controversies that consumed the justices for weeks are likely to resurface soon.
The fallout from the court's 6-3 decision on Tennessee's gender-affirming care ban looms as early as Monday, with the justices deciding how to deal with several pending transgender cases, including appeals involving trans athletes.
In the wake of the court's blockbuster opinion curbing the use of nationwide court orders to block the Trump agenda, civil liberties advocates raced into lower courts with new litigation within hours. The legal battle promises to quickly resume, with the outcome likely resulting in another trip to the Supreme Court.
The Future Ahead
About 9% of the court's decisions this term were ideologically split - a decrease from the past four terms. Around 40% of the decisions were unanimous, an occurrence consistent with past terms.
Carrie Severino, the President of the Judicial Crisis Network and a former clerk to conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, predicts that although there is a lot of litigation still to come, it will have significant downstream effects.
A Rising Voice in Dissent
Although the junior member of the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, is ensuring her voice is heard. A series of pointed dissents penned by Jackson have recently gained as much attention as the court's majority opinions.
In her dissent on the birthright citizenship case, Jackson described the majority's opinion as an "existential threat to the rule of law" and a "smokescreen."
Not All Wins for Trump
The Supreme Court has been working to curb the power of federal agencies in recent terms. However, this term, the court rebuffed efforts by conservative groups to keep the momentum going.
In some cases, the Trump administration defended policies originally supported by former President Biden, which caused the administration to find itself in an awkward position, advocating for a policy backed by the opposing administration. This dynamic could create complications for policymaking and Supreme Court cases in the future.
In a given case, the Supreme Court upheld a task force recommending preventive health care services that insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration supported the task force in opposition to a challenge from a Texas company. The court also reaffirmed a series of programs that reduce the cost of broadband internet and telephone services for poor and rural communities, although conservative groups had attempted to revive a legal doctrine dating from the New Deal era that bars Congress from delegating its authority to federal agencies.
- The political landscape remains tense as discussions about policy and legislation continue, particularly in regards to the ongoing conflict between the White House and the federal judiciary, such as the debates surrounding the President's executive order on birthright citizenship.
- Beyond the controversial issue of birthright citizenship, the Supreme Court has been instrumental in shaping war-and-conflicts-related policy, as seen in the case where they granted Trump's urgent request to resume deporting migrants to countries like South Sudan, which are on the brink of war.
- In the realm of general-news and crime-and-justice, the Supreme Court's decisions have far-reaching implications, with justice Ketanji Brown Jackson making a significant impact through her notable dissents, such as her strong criticism of the majority opinion on the birthright citizenship case.
