Martin Gillen: Biden got a chance to tame the right direction of the courts

With Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto winning in Nevada, Democrats took 50 seats in the Senate.

Thus, they maintain their majority, with the vice president serving as the decisive vote.

Cortez Masto defeated Republican Adam Laxalt, one of many so-called exile voters who doubted Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Victory in Nevada means it Joe Biden’s party retains control of the Senate. Biden thus avoids fighting Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who had hoped to return as majority leader in the Senate if Republicans won a majority. McConnell is one of Washington’s finest strategists and could have made the next two years of Biden in the White House a nightmare.

Now, instead, Democrat Chuck Schumer, a liberal senator from New York who has also shown tactical skill in recent years, will continue to control the Senate.

The fact that the Democrats retain power over the Senate is important above all to the courts.

Joe Biden could go on to appoint federal judges and possibly new justices to the Supreme Court, where the president’s nominations must be approved by the Senate.

During his first two years in office, Biden appointed 84 federal judges, nearly twice the number of judges appointed by Donald Trump and Barack Obama in their early years. It’s the highest number since John F.’s first two years. Kennedy as President, 1961-1963, which says something about how much Biden prioritized the courts.

If the Republicans She controlled the Senate, even a conservative majority in the Supreme Court that could have been impeached in the long run. He would also maintain conservative majorities in many of the federal courts that tried to stop Biden and Democrats’ reforms.

This week, for example, we saw how a federal court in Texas temporarily blocked Joe Biden’s student loan reform, which would write off student debt for millions of young Americans.

Biden now gets a chance to tame the political extremism that has occurred in the courts during Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump appointed three HD judges and dozens of federal judges who were chosen by the far-right organization Federal Society.

The Democratic victory in Nevada also shows how far the party has exceeded expectations in the midterm elections

Over the weekend, four conservative HD judges received a standing ovation at a Federal Assembly dinner, and in a leaked exclusive video clip of the event, Trump-appointed HD judge Amy Connie Barrett was seen mocking abortion rights.

As Democrats continue to have power in judicial appointments, there will also be increasing pressure on HD’s oldest liberal justice, Sonia Sotomayor, to retire so Biden can appoint a new judge for life, even though 68-year-old Sotomayor is considered a relative. young man to judge hd.

After winning in Nevada, Democrats have a chance to increase their majority in the Senate to 51 seats if they also win the special election in Georgia on December 6. It pits current party senator Raphael Warnock against former NFL footballer Herschel Walker, who is backed by Trump.

A win in Georgia would also be of great significance to Biden, as a majority of 51 senators would give Democrats more power over important Senate committees.

with the current situation Of the 50 senators per party, Democrats also have to share half of the committee seats with Republicans, which has prevented and delayed many reforms. If Warnock wins, Democrats will be able to control the committees.

With 51 senators, Biden won’t have to worry so much about the two most conservative Democrats in the Senate, Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema, who have caused Biden so much trouble and halted many of his previous initiatives.

51 Senators will give Democrats some room for future losses. In the 2024 election, three party senators face competition in tough and conservative states: Mansion in West Virginia, Joe Tester in Montana, and Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

The Democratic victory in Nevada also shows how far the party has exceeded expectations in the midterm elections.

In a forecast on conservative Fox News last week, the channel’s critics said Republicans should get 54 or 55 senators after the election. If the Republicans now lose in Georgia as well, they would have to settle for 49.

On the other hand, Republicans can still get a slim majority in the House.