Thread by @ComradeArthur

"Thanks to ruthless discipline — and a plan long in the making — the G.O.P is carrying out a sweeping transformation of the federal judiciary.

RUTHLESS.
Almost. We won't be Ruthless until RBG retires. <soon>

https://twitter.com/NYTmag/status/1034218269161545729

"the job (of picking judicial nominees) belongs exclusively to the White House Counsel’s Office, with McGahn and his deputy, Robert Luther, and about 10 associate counsels identifying and then scrutinizing candidates. This process is unique in White House history. "

That makes the McGahn quitting story more significant.

In 2017, the Senate confirmed 12 of Trump’s appeals court picks — the most for any president in his first year in office.
This year, the Senate has already confirmed 12 appellate judges and, according to a Republican Judiciary Committee aide, hopes to confirm at least four more.

Trump’s appointees have tended to be unusually well credentialed and conservative.

after just 18 months, Trump has “flipped” two circuits — the Sixth and Seventh — from liberal to conservative. Two more — the Eighth and the 11th — are on the verge of tipping.

"We can win back the House this November, we can defeat Trump in 2020 and we’ll still be dealing with the lingering effects of Trumpism for the next 30 or 40 years because of the young Trump-appointed judges.” - Fallon, Democratic operative.
Mua ha ha ha.
ha.

Federalist Society, believe that fed agencies have become an unaccountable “fourth branch” of government ... (and) should instead be restrained from doing anything beyond what the law, as Congress wrote it, stipulates.

appellate courts are especially important ... Although the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, its caseload ... has become even smaller in recent years ... just 79 (last term) The appeals courts ... collectively hear and decide thousands of cases each year.

(the importance of) appeals courts. “They’re making the law of the land in critically important areas,” she says. “It’s something that’s not lost on the Republicans. That’s why they have their eyes on the prize.”

And never have they been as focused as they have been under Trump, who, according to Randy Barnett, “has made as good a selection of judges as any Republican president in my lifetime.”

Democrats have tried to rule the country via the courts since FDR. Now that there's a President who understands the game and is playing it well they're upset.

Sad!

When Trump Took office, he inherited not just an open Supreme Court seat but 107 additional judicial vacancies. Ronald Reagan, by contrast, had 35 unfilled judgeships; Obama had 54.

McConnell’s first move came 6 weeks after Obama’s inauguration, in the form of a letter ... which warned (Obama) that if he did not consult with — and, more crucial, receive the approval of — home-state senators for his judicial nominees, then the Republicans would filibuster

Even without Leahy’s strict blue-slip policy, Obama would probably still have sought Republican approval for his judges. He was less interested in making the judiciary more liberal than in making it more diverse.
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HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

(in 2013) With the filibuster for lower-court judicial nominations eliminated, Obama was able to score more than 100 judicial confirmations in just over a year.
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You’ll regret this,” Mitch McConnell warned in 2013, “and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”

You’ll regret this,” Mitch McConnell warned in 2013
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After taking back the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections, McConnell, now the majority leader, began a near blockade of Obama’s judicial appointments.

Senate Dems with Obama in the WH acted like there would never be another GOP President or a GOP majority in the Senate. So they didn't move quickly to fill open judicial positions. - Me

While Grassley and the White House have sought the input of some Democratic senators on judicial nominations from their states ... they have, more often than not, steamrolled the rest of them.

STEAMROLLED

“A lot of the things that make Trump so loathsome as a person and a politician,” David Lat notes, “are why he’s been nominating judges who are such great conservatives.”

That article is long and a very good read. You shouldn't limit yourself to these tweeted excerpts.

This guy has a take on the article.

https://twitter.com/EdWhelanEPPC/status/1034899036946542592

" (The ABA, no friend of conservatives, rated 23 of Trump’s 26 appointees, or 88%, “well qualified”; by contrast, it gave that rating to only 11 of President Obama’s 16 appellate appointees—69%—during his first two years in office.) "

And the beat(down) goes on.
"With McConnell Cancelling the August Recess, Senate Democrats Surrender on 7 Judicial Appointments, Agree to Another 8 Next Week"
ace.mu.nu/archives/37683…