On Wednesday, President Joe Biden predicted that the winner of the 2024 presidential election will “be able to appoint a couple of justices” to the Supreme Court and said that he intends to “put in really progressive judges.” This is a threat that conservatives need to take seriously, as losing the majority on the court would come with long-term repercussions on issues ranging from abortion to women’s sports.
The next president will almost certainly appoint at least one justice, as Clarence Thomas is 75, Samuel Alito is 74, and Sonia Sotomayor turns 70 this summer. After the political drama caused by the deaths of Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it is increasingly likely that the current justices will try to retire strategically so that their preferred successors are appointed. Nevertheless, the ages of the justices may necessitate ideological turnover, which is a terrifying prospect given what is at stake.
Starting with abortion, the pro-life movement spent a half-century carefully organizing to get Roe v. Wade overturned. Now, one of the greatest conservative political successes of the last five decades could be wiped out by a liberal court. But that only scratches the surface. Affirmative action could be reinstated, women’s sports could be forced to include men, unilateral student loan forgiveness could be allowed, and many final checks on left-wing power could be removed.
The fact of the matter is that no one really knows how far a liberal court would go, but conservatives have fought too long and too hard for a 6-3 majority to lose it without a fight.
Progressives have ramped up their attacks on the Republican-appointed justices in recent years, with the latest meltdown about Samuel Alito flying an “Appeal to Heaven” flag being especially foolish. Other “controversies” in recent memory have included Amy Coney Barrett being Catholic, Brett Kavanaugh liking beer, and Neil Gorsuch criticizing campus protesters (when he was 19). Leftists have also attacked the institutional power of the court itself: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) even suggested in a recent op-ed that the DOJ could force recusals from justices.
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This is compounded by the very serious threat of packing the Supreme Court as a long-term goal for the Left. Adam Schiff, the presumptive winner of this year’s Senate election in California, has openly called for expanding the size of the court. He’s not alone. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and countless other Democrats have openly advocated court-packing. If they ever succeed at expansion, the precedent for an ever-growing court would be set, and its role as a check on other branches of government would be effectively undermined forever.
Republicans do grasp the importance of maintaining the majority on the court, but they may not understand just how close they are to losing it. The Supreme Court is perhaps the single most important issue of 2024, and while it may not be as flashy as immigration or Israel, the GOP needs to be prepared to fight for it.