President Donald Trump says he regrets nominating Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
asserted
he → say → Court
Asked in a Time interview whether he regretted those choices, Trump answered: “Yeah.
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Trump → ask → choices
What can I do?
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I → do → What
I put them in.
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I → put → them
They voted against me too often.”
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They → vote → me
He added that he had given them “the position of a lifetime.”
asserted
he → add → lifetime
But “they voted against me” is the wrong way to think about what Supreme Court justices do.
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justices → vote → what
A justice does not cast a vote for or against Trump.
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justice → cast → Trump
The fact that Trump appointed that justice should have no bearing on the legal analysis.
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Trump → appoint → analysis
The court decides cases involving statutes, constitutional provisions, executive power, precedent, and the arguments of litigants.
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court → decide → litigants
Sometimes those decisions favor an administration.
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decisions → favor → administration
Sometimes they do not.
asserted
they → do → ?
Trump himself seemed to recognize the distinction as the interview continued.
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interview → seem → distinction
Asked whether he wanted loyalty from his Supreme Court justices, he answered: “No, I don’t want loyalty.
asserted
I → ask → loyalty
I want good decisions.”
asserted
I → want → decisions
That is closer to the constitutional standard — assuming by “good decisions” he means decisions faithful to the Constitution and the law rather than decisions favorable to him.
asserted
he → assume → him
On that assumption, he has it exactly right.
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it → have → assumption
A president may consider judicial philosophy when choosing a nominee.
uncertain
president → consider → nominee
Originalism, textualism, precedent, federalism, and executive power matter.
asserted
Originalism → matter → ?
But selecting a justice because of how that person interprets the law is very different from expecting favorable outcomes once the justice reaches the bench.
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justice → select → bench
Article 3 creates that distance.
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Article → create → distance
Federal judges hold office during “good Behaviour,” and their compensation cannot be reduced while they serve.
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they → hold → Behaviour
Alexander Hamilton defended permanent judicial tenure in Federalist No. 78 as essential to an “independent spirit” in judges charged with enforcing a limited Constitution.
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Hamilton → defend → Constitution
Only 14 years after the Constitution took effect, that principle faced a defining test.
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principle → take → test
Marbury v. Madison arose from the bitter transfer of power from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.
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Marbury → arise → Jefferson
In Adams’s final days as president, William Marbury was appointed a justice of the peace.
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Marbury → appoint → peace
His commission had been signed and sealed but not delivered when Jefferson took office.
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Jefferson → sign → office
Jefferson directed that the remaining commissions be withheld, and Marbury asked the Supreme Court to order Secretary of State James Madison to deliver his.
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Marbury → direct → his
The Supreme Court of 1803 was not the commanding institution it is today.
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it → command → 1803
It was young and caught in intense partisan conflict over the federal judiciary.
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It → catch → judiciary
An order against Madison risked simply being ignored.
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order → risk → Madison
Chief Justice John Marshall found another path.
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Marshall → find → path
The court held that Marbury had a legal right to his commission.
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Marbury → hold → commission
But it also held that Congress had attempted, through the Judiciary Act of 1789, to give the Supreme Court original jurisdiction beyond what Article 3 permitted.
asserted
Article → hold → what
So the court refused to issue the writ Marbury sought — and in doing so established the precedent of judicial review.
asserted
Marbury → refuse → review
Marshall supplied the famous formulation: “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.”
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law → supply → department
Notice what the court did.
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court → notice → what
It did not ask what Adams wanted.
asserted
Adams → ask → what
It did not ask what Jefferson wanted.
asserted
Jefferson → ask → what
It did not even accept more power simply because Congress offered it.
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Congress → accept → it
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
