Posted on 02/18/2026 6:42:05 AM PST by MtnClimber
One area where Republicans need to do a better job is learning to play the long game in politics, especially in the courts. Today, on issue after issue, the Trump administration is losing battles at the lower levels of the judicial system, while frequently winning at the appellate level. Lower courts are composed of younger judges who, as they gain experience, rise in the judicial ranks. The rulings we see today at those lower levels will in the future be made by older, more liberal judges, at all levels, including the Supreme Court. This will hold true if the Republicans do not take steps today to prevent it. The Supreme Court is the last stand for judicial relief.
Currently, going back to George H.W. Bush, the overall number of judicial appointments at all levels is 962 by Democrat presidents vs. 815 by Republican presidents. The number is greater for Democrats primarily because Democrat presidents have been in office for 20 years vs. 17 for Republicans over that time frame.
The issue of judicial appointments is especially of concern when we look at SCOTUS. On today’s Court, there are three distinct age groups. Call the top level the ‘Old Guard’ -- Clarence Thomas (78) and Samuel Alito (76). The so-called Conservative Wing (reluctantly, I am including Roberts in this group, though he is at best a moderate), the average age here is a relatively young 61, compared to the liberal wing, with an average age of 65.
Today, the averages favor the Republicans. But time is a lion, powerful as well as an imposing force, marching on at an unrelenting pace, while the Republicans are a lamb. Frankly, the Republicans are losing this battle.
Look at Alito and Thomas specifically to see what could happen in the relatively short span
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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I hope there is a plan in place for Supreme Court retirements, but I doubt it.
Thank you for posting this.
I bet there is. Alito is rumored to this summer. Hopefully Thomas does too. Getting two 40 year olds would be nice.
So far trump has appointed 27 judges his second term. I’d like to see that as a major priority over food and social media restrictions they seem to focus on right now. The more judges trump appoints, the better for the long term of America.
I’m sure that the White House has people in mind to nominate to the Supreme Court , if vacancies arise.
But I doubt there’s any plan to ask any justices to retire, so they can be replaced while Republicans still control the Senate.
It’s good to remember that they got rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. So a solid conservative could be nominated, without concerns about Democrats mounting a filibuster to derail a nomination.
Funny, I see the Judicial Coup Branch in need of obliteration and draining way before it gets filled.
Unfortunately, it must be a challenge to find bona fide conservative candidates wiling to be subjected to pornographic allegations and false accusations by Democrats and their minions.
My pleasure. Thank you for writing it. And I completely agree.
Courts are one of the rare areas where Republicans have done fairly well, at least over the past two decades. The issue raised in this article has less to do with Republicans being better at the “long game” and more to do with the fact that the judges who Dems appoint are naked partisans who have no morals or professional standards and will do whatever they need to do from the bench to thwart Republican policy.
You can be sure if Dems take POTUS in 2028, they will “pack the court.”
One of the biggest problems with the judicial system, is the U. S. Senate. While the Republicans repeatedly approve a Democrat President’s appointees, regardless of the qualifications of the appointees (can you say “Kanye-Jackson”), the Democrats in the Senate routinely stonewall or block judicial appointments - even when they are the minority party.
So far in DJT’s second administration, the Democrats have managed to prevent confirmation on some very specific U. S. Attorneys, resulting in court cases getting thrown out (can you say “James” or “Comey”?).
Additionally, the Democrats play the legal long game by filing suit after suit to stymie the implementation of DJT executive orders, policies and agenda. Even though they know they’re likely to have cases overthrown at the Appellate and Supreme Court levels, they rely on the time it takes to escalate the cases to run out the clock. They don’t have to “win” to “win,” they just have to prevent DJT from winning.
Additionally the Democrats have shown they will ignore adverse rulings, so the legal system as we know and follow, is for all intents and purposes, moot . . .
If the Party of Death DemonRATS take the House and Senate in the mid-terms, Americans can forget about the courts entirely. The far-left have turned the maggots in the weaponized Judiciary in black robes into another legislative branch run by the RATS for the RATS only.
While a nice idea, unfortunately, Trump does not have a great track record with the three he appointed to the Supreme Court. They are not conservative in the mold of Scalia, Thomas or Alito, but are more moderate and in the case of Barrett, more liberal. There is no guarantee that if Trump appoints replacements for Alito and Roberts that the Court would have two new staunch conservatives.
No more women. Period.
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