The Democrats’ midterm breakup shifted attention from vote counting to Supreme Court birthdates. As the party prepares to control the Senate in January, conservatives are openly concerned about how long Justices Clarence Thomas, 78, and Samuel Alito, 76, can or will remain on the bench, and what that means for the court’s 6-3 conservative streak, Reuters reports. Legal analysts say a quick retreat to let President Trump and the current Republican Senate confirm the replacements would seem blatantly political and is unlikely, absent a health crisis. “No Supreme Court justice will be confirmed under President Trump’s administration unless something happens in the next six weeks,” Ron DeSantis, Republican governor of Florida, said Wednesday, according to CNN.
Neither justice has announced plans to resign — Alito has told some members of his inner circle that he has no plans to leave the bench, even with Democrats’ big victories, according to the New York Times– and also has not experienced any serious health problems, according to Reuters. Even if one or both abruptly resigned their positions, the deadline for Republicans to make replacements before Democrats take control of Congress in January would be tight. While some experts predict that Republicans may not regain the Senate until the 2030s, conservative commentators now joke about judges using their treadmills to stay in shape and question the quality of their health insurance.
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