Democrats are sharing their secret weapon to combat President-elect Donald Trump’s second term: the courts.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently spoke with POLITICO Playbook
, during which he signaled that, heading into Trump’s second term with little to no power, Democrats plan to go through the courts to fight back.
“I don’t know exactly what [Trump will] do. But I can tell you this: The judiciary will be one of our strongest—if not our strongest—barrier[s] against what he does,” Schumer said.
It’s a strategic shift that reflects the limitations and opportunities Democrats face as they try to safeguard constitutional rights and hold Trump’s second administration accountable. Schumer acknowledged that the courts—specifically federal courts, which President Joe Biden worked to reshape—are poised to be a key battleground in the next phase for both the Democratic Party and the American people.
Democrats’ national strategy comes as attorneys general across the country prepare to use the courts in their states, threatening lawsuits
as a shield if and when Trump breaks the law—similar to what they did during his first administration.
But Democrats aren’t the only ones who have used the courts to their advantage. One of Trump’s legacies from his first administration is the appointment of three young conservative Supreme Court justices who will be able to stay on the bench for a long time.
“We like people in their thirties, so they’re there for 50 years or 40 years,” Trump said at a rally
for the National Rifle Association in May.
In response, Biden appointed a significant number of young
and Black
judges to federal benches, and he recently surpassed Trump in the number of appointments during his presidency. This was no accident; it was a plan
he and Schumer reportedly made four years ago at the start of his term.
Biden greets Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who he nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022
“When we started out, we knew it would be a very difficult job to do more than Trump had done,” Schumer said. “But we did: We got 235—more than a quarter of the federal judiciary was appointed by our Senate and by the president.”
Biden flexed this muscle on Monday when he vetoed
the JUDGES Act, which would have given Trump the ability to appoint two dozen judges.
And who did they get the idea from?
“The GOP,” Schumer said, citing how Republicans came up with “a strategy in the George W. Bush [years]. ‘We’ve got to control the bench,’ and they made every effort to do it. When I became majority leader, I said, ‘This is something we have to work on.’”
While using the courts to thwart Trump might seem like a defensive move rather than offensive, it’s also part of the long game. Schumer and Biden are banking on these judicial appointments outlasting any individual administration, serving as legal armor against Trump’s existential threat to democracy.
On New Year’s Day, millions of Americans will see their prescription
drug costs capped
at $2,000 per year—and it’s thanks to the actions of President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress.
Under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act
, federal law prohibits out-of-pocket prescription drug costs from exceeding $2,000 for many Medicare beneficiaries. The AARP estimates
that about 3.2 million Americans will save money on prescription medications in 2025, which will increase to more than 4 million people by 2029.
But, of course, Republicans didn’t support the law that made this happen. In both the House and Senate, Republicans stood together and opposed the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill only received votes
from the Democratic caucus before being signed into law by Biden.
The Inflation Reduction Act combined several provisions
to cut health care costs—including an insulin benefit
for which Donald Trump falsely claimed credit
—along with incentives for companies and organizations to use clean energy technologies.
Since the law hit the books, the GOP has tried to undermine it with 54 unsuccessful votes
led by Republicans in Congress to repeal portions if not all of the law.
While Trump has not specifically addressed the Medicare cap, he has expressed anger
at the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy credits and has made clear his interest in reversing those measures.
During the election, Trump claimed
that he would not cut safety net programs like Medicare, but during an interview with CNBC in March he said that “there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting.”
Under the guise of “government efficiency,” Trump nominated
billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency to rail against purported government waste and abuse. Musk has already been exercising his power, leading Republican opposition
to a bill that funded pediatric cancer research and services for 9/11 first responders.
Similarly, Trump nominated
quack television doctor Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oz and Trump have advocated
for transferring people to Medicare Advantage, which is a scheme to privatize many of the services that Medicare currently offers.
Project 2025
, a far-right initiative written by several Trump-affiliated individuals, has put Medicare squarely within its sights by backing Medicare Advantage, which would significantly limit
millions of enrollees’ choices of doctors and specialists. Trump also chose
one of the key architects of Project 2025, Russell Vought, to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Similarly, Trump is directly connected to one of the most visible attacks on health care benefits: the push to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Trump campaigned heavily on the issue during his 2016 election campaign, and as president he tried to restrict
the program from offering health care coverage to millions of Americans. In 2017, Republicans came extremely close
to repealing the entire program, which would have upended health insurance for millions of people.
Despite Republican opposition, Democrats were able to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which is helping millions of Americans. But the incoming president has a history of attacking health care benefits, and the prescription drug price cap could be his next casualty.
At least one dead and three missing amid storm that has split wharf, wrecked boat and piled up debris
California residents are being warned to stay off wharves, piers and other waterside structures as 20-30ft waves are expected to batter the northern Pacific coast for the rest of the week.
The National Weather Service advisory comes after a 150ft section of the wharf in Santa Cruz
collapsed amid high waves on Monday, and storm debris was blamed for the death of a Santa Cruz county man on a beach in Watsonville.
