How the ‘10th justice’ can help Trump’s agenda at the Supreme Court
CNN
President Donald Trump named three justices in his first term, establishing a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court. And now, even without an imminent vacancy, Trump is positioned to push the court farther to the right.
President Donald Trump named three justices in his first term, establishing a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court. And now, even without an imminent vacancy, Trump is positioned to push the court farther to the right. He has begun turning the top appellate litigator at the Department of Justice to his advantage. That prestigious office of the US solicitor general influences – more than other petitioners – which appeals the Supreme Court takes up and which side wins. Trump’s lawyers on Friday reversed a Biden administration transgender-rights position challenging state bans on hormones, puberty blockers and other gender-affirming care for trans minors. DOJ lawyers have also reversed a Biden administration position on voting rights and backtracked on its environmental cases. They have also begun strategizing on Trump’s controversial executive orders – covering immigration, federal workers and a funding freeze – destined for the Supreme Court. Swathed in such institutional trappings as morning suits and quill pens, the office of the solicitor general enjoys considerable deference from the nine justices. Colloquially known as “the tenth justice,” the solicitor general has a designated office at the court. Many in its elite squad – not just at the top but among the 20 staff attorneys – once served as law clerks to justices. Their arguments can provide the legal scaffolding for the Supreme Court’s decision, and in the closest of cases the solicitor general has been known to persuade a key justice.
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