Donald Trump will not be able to appoint a “right winger” to the United States Supreme Court, according to Chuck Schumer, the future Senate majority leader, in remarks that provide a preview of how Democrats intend to exercise their power in January.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Schumer said Democrats would not confirm “any crappy nominee” to the Supreme Court, lower courts or Trump’s Cabinet.
“At the end of the day, we’re not going to allow a right winger to get on the field,” Schumer said. Four Supreme Court justices are over 70, and the two most conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, are the oldest on the court, at 78 and 76, respectively.
After scoring massive victories in the midterm elections and winning back both houses of Congress, Democratic leaders are planning their return when the new Congress is sworn in. This involves a major backlash against the American president and his policies.
Some Democrats are considering launching investigations into Trump and members of his administration. On Tuesday evening, Robert Garcia, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, warned Republicans to “defend themselves.”
Others are preparing to advance legislation they promised voters, and Democratic leaders will enjoy wide margins in the House and Senate to pass key priorities like restoring Medicaid cuts following Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and stopping funding for the war in Iran. Trump has indicated he plans to veto bills he disagrees with.
Democrats have secured 54 Senate seats for the next Congress, and that number would increase to 56 if Democratic candidates in Mississippi and Alaska triumph. Neither race has been called, but Democrats are ahead in both. Democrats will also have at least 253 seats in the House after flipping more than 40 seats Friday morning.
Schumer told The Associated Press that he expects Democrats to have enough power to reject Trump’s nominees and end other policies.
The Supreme Court is one area where Democrats plan to strongly oppose.
During his first term, Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, solidifying a 6-3 conservative majority that fended off many — but not all — of the challenges to Trump’s second term policies.
Thomas or Alito still have six weeks of a Republican Senate that could theoretically confirm a Trump nomination to the high court, but Thomas has not indicated he plans to retire.
Alito denied rumors that he would retire and reiterated his plan to Fox News on Thursday, telling the news organization that he planned to remain in the field for the remainder of the term regardless of the Democrats’ landslide victory.
As Democrats prepare for their comeback, Republicans are reflecting on how and why they lost so badly.
In recent days, top Republicans have played the blame game, pointing fingers at Trump’s war on Iran and tariffs that raise daily costs.
JD Vance, the vice president, acknowledged how the war in Iran has caused widespread frustrations. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Trump’s tariffs had driven up costs. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, admitted that the Republicans’ vote on the Epstein files reflected poorly on the party.
Trump, meanwhile, has turned his attention to personal issues – largely related to construction projects in Washington DC.
But he suffered another blow Friday when a federal judge blocked the start of construction on his planned triumphal arch for 14 days, after being given the green light Thursday by a commission made up of Trump loyalists.
On Monday, on the eve of the next election, the US president held a press conference to unveil the latest improvements made by his administration to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. The expensive and controversial project has made headlines over the past year because administration officials have sought to blame the project’s failures on “vandals.” A U.S. attorney appointed by Trump later determined that those failures were the result of poor workmanship.
On Wednesday, the day after losing the Republican majority in Congress, Trump held another news conference to outline the latest renovation of the White House ballroom, another expensive and controversial project.
The US president spent more than 20 minutes discussing ballroom details and only brought up his party’s massive failures when reporters directly asked him about them.
On Thursday, after suffering even more losses in Congress, Trump held a news conference in the Oval Office to sign a proclamation banning future presidents from changing the design of his gilded Oval Office and Cabinet Room.
“I just thought it was very important that no one was allowed to come and take it apart and try to do something with it,” Trump said Thursday.
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