The Supreme Court’s Majority Is Playing the Long Game
The session is being interpreted by many as giving President Trump more power. Chief Justice Roberts has a different strategy.
It’s really not as bad as it looks.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images North AmericaMany legal commentators apparently believe that, in the term that just ended, the Supreme Court further enabled President Donald Trump. The court did, in fact, issue a series of conservative decisions that Trump likes. However, under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the court also simultaneously pursued a careful strategy aimed at preserving the rule of law in the face of Trump’s unprecedented challenges to it.
The court picked its battles, upholding a meaningful number of lower court orders that blocked unlawful Trump initiatives. At the same time, the justices worked hard to avoid a direct confrontation in which Trump might overtly declare his intention to ignore a court ruling.