Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Could Be Good for the Economy
A solidly conservative court could reduce the burden of business regulations.
The court’s new center.
Photographer: Leah Millis/Getty Images North America
President Donald Trump isn’t planning to announce his choice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg until Saturday, but the debate has already begun over the views of one of the two women most often mentioned as the nominee. Unfortunately, the discussion is not focused on the issue where a new justice is likely to have the most impact: the Supreme Court’s treatment of administrative law, which has a huge effect on the economy.
Either of the leading candidates — Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa, both currently federal appellate judges — would be well to the right of Chief Justice John Roberts. That sets up Justice Brett Kavanaugh to be the next swing vote on the court, and hundreds of thousands of words have been spilled trying to read the tea leaves on whether Kavanaugh would be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade. (By my reading, the slight consensus is that he would be willing to chip away but not reverse the landmark ruling protecting the right to an abortion.)