Stanford political scientist Adam Bonica notes (in “The Supreme Court Is at War With Its Own Judiciary“)that since May, federal district courts have ruled against Trump administration 94% of the time, while the Supreme Court has sided with the Trump administration 94% of the time.
He describes the pattern in which district court judges gather evidence firsthand and rule that the administration has acted illegally, the administration appeals to the Supreme Court, and the high court’s majority sides with the administration in unsigned emergency orders.
Trump’s DOJ, which has repeatedly defied judges, has been contemptuous of the authority of the courts to provide judicial oversight. Trump has defamed judges; his allies have doxed them, issued death threats, and submitted impeachment resolutions.
Bonica concludes:
The conservative majority knows exactly what it’s doing. These same justices would never have allowed a Democratic administration to take similar actions, like abolishing federal agencies by executive order or federalizing national guards without state approval and deploying the military against peaceful protesters. Yet when Trump bulldozes through constitutional limits, the Court waves him on.
We are witnessing something without precedent: a Supreme Court that appears to be at war with the federal judiciary’s core constitutional function. It has chosen to bless the administration’s actions, and in doing so, systematically dismantles the authority of any court that stands in its way. The courts can’t protect the Constitution because the Supreme Court won’t let them. The Supreme Court has chosen a side, and it isn’t the rule of law.
Trump’s Attorney General has noticed. When asked by Senator Patty Murray whether the administration ought to follow court orders, Pam Bondi responded:
We will follow court orders, Senator. We will follow court orders. The problem arises in the district courts. All these district courts throughout the country are trying our hands. And here’s how we will follow them — when we get to the United States Supreme Court, we’re winning.
This is consistent with the Project 2025 strategy. The Supreme Court, with its Republican supermajority, is prepared to do its part in the MAGA campaign. Success requires the three branches of the federal government to act in concert. The court’s Republican majority has consistently (more than nine times out of ten) sided with the Trump administration. It will continue to do so, above all in the most significant cases.
The Roberts Court is prepared to shrug off constitutional limits on the president, to override well established judicial principles, and to sabotage the rule of law itself on behalf of the wannabe strongman in the White House. It will not stand in the way of the Project 2025 crusade. It will not constrain Donald Trump.