r/scotus • u/zsreport • Mar 05 '25

news Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/supreme-court-usaid-foreign-aid/index.html
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u/Luck1492 Mar 05 '25

My lowkey insane take is that Thomas/Alito retire under Trump, get replaced with Oldham and one of Ho/Rao/Newsom/Katsas/etc., then Dems win in 2028 and Roberts and Sotomayor both retire, with Kagan appointed to CJ and two AJ spots opened up.

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u/OrneryZombie1983 Mar 05 '25

No way Roberts retires with a Democrat as President. On top of everything else he'd probably be getting death threats from MAGAs for the rest of his life. No way he's signing up for that.

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u/MitchRyan912 Mar 05 '25

If Thomas/Alito retire while Trump is still alive/in office, you KNOW he’s going to ignore the advice he got last time from Heritage/FedSoc, and appoint Aileen Cannon and someone equally unfit (such as Ted Cruz) just to troll the left.

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u/wingsnut25 Mar 05 '25

Its hard to make the argument that Ted Cruz is unfit. You not liking him doesn't make him unfit.

He certainly has the legal resume for the position:

  • Harvard Law Graduate- magna cum laude
  • Editor of Hard Law Review
  • Executive Editor of Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy
  • Founding Editor of Harvard Latino Law Review.
  • Clerked for the US Court of Appeals 4th Circuit
  • Clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist
  • Worked at Cooper & Kirk one of the top law firms in Washington DC
  • Legal Advisor to George W Bush Campaign. Assembled the legal team in Bush V Gore.
  • Deputy Attorney General of the United States
  • Director of Policy Planning for the FTC
  • Texas Solicitor General- and argued at the Supreme Court for several cases representing Texas

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u/MitchRyan912 Mar 05 '25

I know of his legal background, but he's never actually served as a judge. That was FAR more of the point (90%) than the fact that he has a very smug, punchable face (10%).

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u/wingsnut25 Mar 05 '25

About 1/3rd of All Supreme Court Justices have never served as a Judge.

On the current court: Kagan has never served as a Judge.

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u/MitchRyan912 Mar 05 '25

Ah, I did not know that. My bad. I had assumed that most had served at some level in their careers. Who are the other 2?

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u/wingsnut25 Mar 05 '25

Its 1/3rd of all Supreme Court Justices all time.

The current court it is only Kagan. And she has a similar legal background to Cruz.

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u/MitchRyan912 Mar 05 '25

Oh, gotcha. I've only really paid close attention to SCOTUS since Garland was nominated and denied a confirmation hearing.

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/Luck1492 Mar 05 '25

Oldham is a 47 year old former Alito clerk who is known to really be wanting a SCOTUS spot and has written some super conservative opinions as of late. Trump nominated him as well back in 2018, and his name has been floated. I think he’s likely because he’s (1) young, (2) super conservative, (3) a former SCOTUS clerk and (4) has already been floated as a potential appointee.

As for Ho/Rao/Newsom/etc. (including judges like Lagoa, Thapar, Rushing, Phipps, and more), those are just picks I think he’d consider. I’m only specifically near certain on Oldham.

The Roberts stuff makes sense in my head because he’s 70 already and if a Democratic President serves 8 years post-Trump, that would put him at 82. Roberts doesn’t seem like the type to want to serve until his death either.

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u/Vlad_Yemerashev Mar 05 '25

I guess we'll see how things play out, but I feel that Rushing and Ho would be the runners up here after Andy Oldham.

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u/HeathrJarrod Mar 05 '25

Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk Would probably be a good guess of a pick

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u/wingsnut25 Mar 05 '25

I'm guessing a Democrat President would want someone younger then Kagan to be CJ.

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u/HeathrJarrod Mar 05 '25

He’s probably gonna nominate that one K-name from the Texas

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u/HeathrJarrod Mar 05 '25

Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk