Trump Is Now More Powerful Thanks to the Supreme Court. But Will It Last?
The U.S. Supreme Court concluded its 2024–25 term on Friday with a high-profile ruling that leaves President Donald Trump with more power to impose his second-term agenda. But the Court’s decision on nationwide injunctions also contained several exceptions that may render Trump’s victory short-lived. The big question now is exactly how long the president’s new judicially sanctioned boost will last.
But before we dig further into that case, let’s talk about the rest of the term. Big picture–wise, this one will be remembered as a very good term for conservatives, especially when it comes to hot-button social and cultural issues. For instance:
- In United States v. Skrmetti, the majority upheld a Tennessee law that forbids health-care providers from offering certain transgender care for minors.
- In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the majority ruled that a Maryland school board violated religious liberty when it refused to provide an opt-out for parents who did not want their children to participate in lessons featuring LGBTQ+ themes.
- In Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the majority ruled that Planned Parenthood had no legal standing to sue South Carolina over its exclusion of Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.
- In Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the majority rejected a First Amendment challenge to a Texas law requiring the age verification of all visitors to porn websites.
In these cases, the Supreme Court’s six Republican-appointed justices broadly deferred to the policy choices of Republican state officials. As Justice Clarence Thomas argued in Paxton, the majority adopted a posture “which is deferential but not toothless.” Or as Chief Justice John Roberts put it in Skrmetti, the majority was unwilling “to second-guess the lines” drawn by Tennessee lawmakers.
The Court’s three Democratic appointees, meanwhile, sharply dissented in each of those cases. The Supreme Court’s 6–3 conservative-liberal divide—which is not always present in big cases—was certainly on full display in these far-reaching decisions.
Which brings us back to the biggest story of the term, the fight over nationwide injunctions.
This case, Trump v. CASA, stemmed from several lawsuits chall
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