Trump Sausage Seasoned with the Hot Sauce of Conservatism by Federal and State High Court Justices January 28, 2025 Vol. XVIII, No. 1 7:13 am But for the NC Supreme Court, Trump’s agenda would be in jeopardy NC Supreme Court: On January 3, 2025, Republican Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the United States House
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Trump Sausage Seasoned with the Hot Sauce of Conservatism by Federal and State High Court Justices
January 28, 2025 Vol. XVIII, No. 1 7:13 am
But for the NC Supreme Court, Trump’s agenda would be in jeopardy
NC Supreme Court: On January 3, 2025, Republican Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives by a margin of three votes, 218 to 215 for Democrat Hakeem Jefferies, per the Office of the Clerk. Thanks to North Carolina’s new congressional district map, approved by a 5-2 Republican state Supreme Court in 2023, the total number of Republicans in North Carolina’s 14-member US House delegation increased from 7 to 10 in 2025, a net gain of 3 GOP House members, all of whom voted for Speaker Mike Johnson.
But for the North Carolina Supreme Court decision allowing a 10-4 GOP-friendly congressional map, a clear partisan bonanza that a 4-3 Democratic majority state Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional just two years earlier, the US House Speaker just might be a Democrat today. And with a Democrat wielding the Speakers gavel in Washington, DC, President Donald Trump’s agenda would be in serious jeopardy.
Political Background: In 2020, the North Carolina Supreme Court had a 6-1 Democratic majority with an African American female Chief Justice, Democrat Cheri Beasley. Beasley lost the race for Chief Justice in 2020 by 401 votes of 5,391,501 cast to GOP Associate Justice Paul Newby, the court’s lone Republican.
Two additional Republican justices joined Newby in 2020 (Phil Berger, Jr. and Tamara Barringer), leaving Democrats with a slim 4-3 majority. Democrats lost their majority in 2022 when two more Republicans (Richard Dietz and Trey Allen) won their races, thus the current 5-2 GOP majority.
The North Carolina Supreme Court will have a minimum 5-2 Republican majority through 2028, a Republican majority that was instrumental in the election of Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a victory essential for President Donald Trump’s conservative agenda.
Never doubt the public policy consequences of a North Carolina Supreme Court race.
Conservatives likely to dominate US Supreme Court for years to come
US Supreme Court: The current 6-3 Republican-appointed majority on the US Supreme court may increase with Republican President Trump in the Oval Office and a 53-47 Republican majority in the US Senate. This gives the GOP an opportunity to stack the court with new, young conservatives who will guarantee a right-wing advantage for many years to come.
However, the GOP only has a two-year window of opportunity with a Senate majority certain. If Republicans lose the Senate majority in 2026, the opportunity to guarantee an even longer era of conservative dominance on the nation’s highest court will be dashed.
Meanwhile, look for considerable pressure on older Republican-appointed justices like 76-year-old Clarence Thomas and 74-year-old Samuel Alito to resign before the 2026 midterm races so President Trump can appoint their successors. Easier said than done, as Supreme Court justices are no different from most political leaders who see themselves as indispensable and immortal.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who would certainly be on the Mt. Rushmore of American jurists, died at 87 years old during the Trump Administration. If she had resigned at 82 years old, President Obama would have picked a liberal successor. Instead, President Trump picked a 48-year-old conservative, Amy Coney Barrett, to replace Ginsburg.
Pundits predict few opportunities to flip US Senate seats in 2026
If Republicans hang on the US Senate majority during the entire four years of President Trump’s administration, odds increase that he will have an opportunity to nominate a fourth justice. Since WWII, four presidents have had the distinction of four justices on the nation’s highest court, including Truman (4), Eisenhower (5), Nixon (4), and Reagan (4).
The problem Democrats face in 2026 is that there are few opportunities to replace a Republican US Senator with a Democrat. Most pundits agree at this early date that there are only two vulnerable Republicans running in 2026, Susan Collins, Maine, and North Carolina’s own Thom Tillis.
As to vulnerable Democratic Senators running in 2026, most pundits agree that there are at least three, Jon Ossoff, Georgia; Gary Peters, Michigan; and Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire.
Here’s the Democrats’ dilemma: if all three vulnerable Democrats win and both vulnerable Republicans lose (Collins and Tillis), they will still only have 49 Senators, two short of a majority.
As for now, while Democrats plot their 2026 takeover of Congress, Republicans have majorities in the US Senate and House, along with a Republican in the White House anxious to make his own brand of sausage, Trump sausage, seasoned with the hot sauce of conservatism by federal and state high court justices.
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John N. Davis
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