The conservative justice was not present for oral arguments on Monday, but the court did not provide a reason why.

The conservative justice was not present for oral arguments on Monday, but the court did not provide a reason why.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was not present at the court for oral arguments on Monday, with the court giving no reason for his absence.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in court that Thomas “is not on the bench today” but would “participate fully” in the two cases being argued based on the briefs and transcripts.

A court spokeswoman had no further information.

Thomas, 75, is the eldest of the nine justices. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
    9·
    8 months ago

    There really wasnt much that Democrats could do.

    There was, they just chose not to use an anti-democratic loophole to do it. They took the high road by not using a recess appointment. Sure, that appointment would have only been temporary but it would have allowed some votes to get passed the 4/4 split at the time. It also would have been less of a campaign talking point for Trump to be able to appoint someone immediately (the temporary appointment would have been until 2018 I think??).

    I don’t know if they could have filibustered the vote on Trump’s final pick during the election year. I’m not completely caught up on those rules.

    • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 months ago

      You need a recess in order to make a recess appointment, and both houses of Congress often keep a few legislators around the Capitol just to pound the gavel so the Senate never actually goes into recess.

      And in regards to judicial appointments, Harry Reid killed its use for judicial appointments when the Republicans in the minority during Obama’s time in office filibustered everything. Reid kept it in place for SC justices, though. Mitch removed it for SC justices, too, when Democrats started making noise about filibustering Gorsuch.

      And that’s the weird thing about the Fillibuster. It institutes a 60 vote threshold to get most things done, but it was always just a Senate rule and Senate rules are set by a simple majority. It can go away tomorrow if 51 Senators agree to get rid of it.

      • meco03211@lemmy.world
        3·
        8 months ago

        It can go away tomorrow if 51 Senators agree to get rid of it.

        I don’t trust dems to not fuck this up. I can see them again trying to take the “high road”