How a Donald Trump Presidency Could Change the Supreme Court

A Donald Trump presidency would help preserve a conservative Supreme Court for decades, while preventing Supreme Court reform, legal experts believe.
Trump appointed three conservative Supreme Court judges during his last presidential term, pushing the Supreme Court balance to a 6-3 conservative majority.
That led to the overturn of Roe v. Wade and other conservative advances.
If reelected on November 5, he may be able to replace the two oldest conservatives with younger nominees, guaranteeing the conservative majority for many years, legal analysts believe.
Former federal prosecutor, Neama Rahmani, told Newsweek that a Trump presidency could help solidify the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, especially if 76-year-old Clarence Thomas and 74-year-old Samuel Alito, both Republican nominees, agree to retire.
“Thomas or Alito may retire if Trump wins because they will want to be replaced by like-minded conservatives,” Rahmani said.
Rahmani, now president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm in California, believes that retiring from the Supreme Court would also help Thomas and Alito escape criticism for accepting free gifts from Republican donors.
Both have been the subject of intense criticism from Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee for accepting gifts from wealthy Republicans. Thomas, in particular, was criticized for accepting lavish vacations paid for by conservative billionaire, Harlan Crow.
Newsweek sought email comment from the Trump campaign, Harlan Crow’s spokesman and the Supreme Court spokesperson on Friday.
“Thomas and Alito have both also experienced criticism for their out of court conduct and that of their spouses, which many deem to be partisan or violate ethics rules. They may want to step away from the spotlight,” Rahmani said.
He also said that a Trump presidency would likely block reform of the Supreme Court.
In July, President Joe Biden proposed term limits and new ethics guidelines for Supreme Court judges and said he looked forward to working with Congress to enact the required legislation.
Rahmani said that Trump is unlikely to favor any such reform.
“It’s unlikely we will see any substantive changes to the Supreme Court such as term limits or an enforceable code of ethics. In addition to a majority of votes in the House of Representatives and the signature of the President, those changes would require 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster, which will not happen in today’s polarized Senate,” he said.
New York University law professor, Stephen Gillers, agreed that Republicans could persuade Thomas and Alito to retire.
“Thomas is 76 and Alito is 74. If Trump wins and Republicans control the Senate, there will be great pressure on Thomas and Alito to retire in the next two years so they can be replaced with nominees in their 40s, who can serve for 30-40 more years,” Gillers told Newsweek.
He also said that the Supreme Court would not be any less radical with the retirement of Thomas and Alito.
“New justices chosen by Trump won’t change the legal ideology of the court. There are enough radical conservatives like Thomas and Alito on the lower federal courts, where Trump will look for a nominee,” Gillers said.
Los Angeles-based attorney, John Perlstein, told Newsweek that Trump will be under pressure to ensure a long-term conservative majority in the Supreme Court.
“If Trump wins then he will definitely try to reshape the Supreme Court, rewarding the conservatives who put him in office,” he said.
“The difference between him and Kamala Harris is that Trump does it by any means necessary, blatantly disregarding the laws and precedents that have been the foundation of [the U.S.] for centuries,” Perlstein said.