Supreme Court's conservatives assert control as momentous term comes to an end

Washington — Five years after Neil Gorsuch joined the Supreme Court, nearly four years after Brett Kavanaugh replaced a retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy and 20 months after Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed days before the 2020 election, the Supreme Court's expanded conservative majority exerted its power across a blockbuster term marked by major decisions on abortion, the Second Amendment and religious rights.

The term that kicked off in October officially came to a close Thursday, with the justices issuing its final two decisions — one curbing the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and a second paving the way for the Biden administration to roll back the so-called "Remain in Mexico" immigration policy — before recessing for the summer.

But it was the rulings issued on successive days last week to wipe away the constitutional right to an abortion and expand gun rights for the first time in more than a decade that underscored how the Supreme Court's conservative majority is making its mark on the law.