In the past decade, American politics have gone through a seismic shift. With the rise of the Trump era, in no field have the changes been more stark and consequential than in the judiciary. There have been a large number of conservative-leaning lawsuits and decisions handed down, and the Republican Party has taken control of the judicial branch to a degree not seen for nearly a century. A key factor in this shift has been the way Democrats have seemingly lost the courts. This article will look into the reasons behind this loss and the implications it may have for the future of American politics.
Background: The Last Democratic Superiority
It wasn’t that long ago that the situation was deeply reversed, with Democrats firmly entrenched in positions of judicial advantage. Throughout the Obama years, the Supreme Court itself had a clear liberal majority, as it had been shaped by Democratic presidents and their appointees going back to the Johnson era.
The Supreme Court is just one level of the judiciary, however. Below it is the system of federal circuit court judges, and here too Democratic presidents had carried substantial control. This superiority had reached its peak in 2000, when the Democratic Party held significant majorities in the circuit courts – seven of the eleven regional circuits were dominated by Democratic judges at the time.
The Appointment Process
At the heart of the issue is the issue of judicial appointments. It is the president who gets to nominate potential judges for a Senate confirmation hearing, but the party of the president does have an influence on the appointment process.
The current system of judicial appointments has been widely criticized for favoritism, as the party which controls the executive branch tends to nominate judges who are of similar political leanings.
In addition, the Republican party has recently gained a higher strength in the Senate, making the confirmation of Republican judges more likely.
The Impact of Recent Elections
The election of Donald Trump to the presidency in 2016 served as a major blow to the Democratic superiority in the courts. Trump was able to appoint a total of two Supreme Court justices, along with a large number of federal appeals court judges, as well as many lower court judges.
Trump was not alone in this rise of the conservative wing. The election of various Republican senators to the upper house has put them in a stronger position to confirm conservative judicial appointments. In 2018, the Republicans gained control of the Senate, with a now 53-seat majority, while the Democrats lost three appellate court seats.
The Shift from Moderate to Conservative Judges
Not only have the balance of appointments shifted from Democrat to Republican, but the appointees themselves have become more conservative in recent years.
This shift has been felt particularly in the Supreme Court. Trump’s two justices have had no qualms about overturning precedents and dismantling liberal policies, such as those related to abortion, gay rights, voting rights, and more.
This conservative shift has also been seen in Circuit Courts, as Trump has appointed 14 appeals court judges who have records of voting for conservative positions in prior judicial decisions.
The Consequences of Losing the Courts
The loss of Democrat control of the judicial system has caused a number of important consequences.
For one, it has made it much more difficult for liberal policies to be passed. With a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, laws aimed at expanding rights and extending the federal government’s power have been struck down, or at the very least made more difficult to pass.
Furthermore, the increased power of the conservatives in the judiciary has caused a great deal of power to be shifted away from the legislative and executive branches, with the court taking controversial decisions on social, economic, and foreign policy issues.
The judiciary has always been a major part of American politics and the Trump era has seen it become an ever more powerful and influential institution. In the last decade, there has been a dramatic shift in the courts from Democratic to Republican control, and many liberals worry that this shift will have long-lasting implications.
Democrats may have lost the courts, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to regain them in the future. In the meantime, the ramifications of this power shift pervade throughout American politics.