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Showing Original Post only (View all)Mark Joseph Stern - It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't..." [View all]
Mark Joseph Stern
@mjsdc.bsky.social
It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.
When the Supreme Court struck down Biden's policies, it was tempting to think: "At least these limits on executive authority will bind Trump if he comes back into office." But nothe court's skepticism of executive power vanished on Jan. 20, 2025. This dynamic is obvious to anyone paying attention!
I think the Supreme Court and its defenders try to deny this blatant bias toward Trump by highlighting distinctions between casesoh, you don't understand, student loan forgiveness was illegal while impoundment is permissible because [reasons]. But the big picture tells an undeniably damning story.
The best "defense" of SCOTUS' hypocrisy is that there's an asymmetry between how Democrats and Republicans wield executive power. BroadlyDems want to give things (health care, asylum, foreign aid, loan relief, civil rights) while Republicans want to take things away. SCOTUS makes the latter easier.
This is why I think the next Democratic president needs to use the EXACT tools that SCOTUS has handed Trump. Don't leave room for any distinctions.
Impound funds for deportation. Give ICE the USAID treatment. Refuse to collect government-backed debt. Purge MAGA loyalists from the executive branch.
Could the Supreme Court still apply different rules to a Democratic president? Of course. You don't need to remind me of that. But a lightning-fast blitz that repurposes Trump's new powers for good stands the best chance of standing up in court. Democrats need to start thinking about this right now.
@mjsdc.bsky.social
It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.
When the Supreme Court struck down Biden's policies, it was tempting to think: "At least these limits on executive authority will bind Trump if he comes back into office." But nothe court's skepticism of executive power vanished on Jan. 20, 2025. This dynamic is obvious to anyone paying attention!
I think the Supreme Court and its defenders try to deny this blatant bias toward Trump by highlighting distinctions between casesoh, you don't understand, student loan forgiveness was illegal while impoundment is permissible because [reasons]. But the big picture tells an undeniably damning story.
The best "defense" of SCOTUS' hypocrisy is that there's an asymmetry between how Democrats and Republicans wield executive power. BroadlyDems want to give things (health care, asylum, foreign aid, loan relief, civil rights) while Republicans want to take things away. SCOTUS makes the latter easier.
This is why I think the next Democratic president needs to use the EXACT tools that SCOTUS has handed Trump. Don't leave room for any distinctions.
Impound funds for deportation. Give ICE the USAID treatment. Refuse to collect government-backed debt. Purge MAGA loyalists from the executive branch.
Could the Supreme Court still apply different rules to a Democratic president? Of course. You don't need to remind me of that. But a lightning-fast blitz that repurposes Trump's new powers for good stands the best chance of standing up in court. Democrats need to start thinking about this right now.
It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjsdc.bsky.social) 2025-10-09T14:47:23.210Z
40 replies
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Mark Joseph Stern - It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't..." [View all]
In It to Win It
Oct 9
OP
Stern is absolutely right of course (as usual). The next Dem pres can't be timid.
themaguffin
Oct 9
#1
The next Dem president needs to start a pressure campaign to get some of them to resign
newdeal2
Oct 9
#4
I have always said to my wife,You can take 2 words and swap them in any sentence dealing with initiatives, policies,etc.
Scalded Nun
Oct 9
#14
Meanwhile, the pundits pretend that the right wing didn't scream about judicial activism for decades prior to Trump.
progressoid
Oct 9
#17