@ABC News contributor, Advisory Opinions host, @SCOTUSblog editor, putting the R in @LRCkcrw, Texas expat, @Harvard_Law grad, cat/brisket mom.
Washington, DC
Joined February 2009
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Pre-order my book! "A myth-busting glimpse into the inner workings of the Supreme Court." Fun for lawyers and non-lawyers alike, including John Jay's head injury, why the end of the filibuster is bad for the judiciary, and who is watching Slow Horses. penguinrandomhouse.com/books…
Sarah Isgur retweeted
Sarah's discussion of this on Advisory Opinions reminded me of something I wanted to talk about.
"Resignation upon confirmation of a successor" is a violation of the Constitution, perpetrated by both the executive branch and SCOTUS.
This has to be correct but it’s pretty important for future scotus litigants.
BREAKING: #SCOTUS, 8-1, green lights Trump admin's border wall construction in Big Bend preserve in Texas, lifts district judge's order blocking project. Justice Jackson dissents. Doc: documentcloud.org/documents/…
Speaking of historical precedents for dealing w judicial vacancies: Trump could also do a recess appointment to fill a vacated SCOTUS seat à la Bush in 2004.
supreme.findlaw.com/legal-co…
Once again, I am *describing* an option that is contemplated by the constitution. Do I think this is a good idea? No. Would it be bad for the court as an institution? Yes. Would it be totally lawful? Also yes…
Alito won't retire in the lame duck and he doesn't need to. Trump can nominate someone to the Supreme Court and the senate can confirm without a vacancy. Then Trump can wait to sign the commission any time in the next two years. The question isn't Alito, its Cornyn/Tillis/Thune.
Here's the Biden OLC opinion. They nominated, confirmed, and in fact signed KBJ's commission before there was a vacancy. The politics are way different for this--but not the law! justice.gov/olc/file/1494816…
Sarah Isgur retweeted
Me, walking through the intern pits, making sure there's not too much jocularity.
I’m not endorsing this idea—quite the opposite. I’m explaining why everyone should stop asking/assuming that Alito is retiring. Instead, they should get Thune on the record that they won’t confirm a lame duck nominee bc there’s nothing in the constitution that prohibits this.
I’m against this idea. My point is that everyone focused on Alito’s retirement is asking the wrong question of the wrong person. GOP senators would be idiots to do this (and I’m confident they wouldn’t) but there’s nothing constitutionally/legally preventing it.
Sarah Isgur retweeted
Nice passage:
“Donald Trump is very good at running for president, but he is very bad at being president.…
“That Donald Trump is a unique political talent cannot be denied. But what kind of political talent is he, really? The president is now 2-0 running as an outsider trying to wrest the presidency from Democratic hands (2016 and 2024) but 0-3 in elections where he is already the president (2018, 2020, 2026). In an age of anti-incumbency, Trump is the epitome of the incumbent curse, a generational genius of charismatic negativity who has no idea what to do with the reins of power once he seizes them—other than marshal the machinery of the federal government to drive public opinion against him.”
99.9 percent of the time when people say "I don't recognize my country" they mean it in a bad way. This is the 0.1 percent.
- James Talarico won a Senate seat in Texas by 12 points—more than Kamala Harris carried in sky-blue states like Illinois or New Jersey in 2024.
- Jon Ossoff won his reelection in Georgia by 18 points—more than the Harris ‘24 margin in places like Connecticut or New York State.
- In Kansas, where no Democrat had won a Senate seat since the Great Depression, Adam Hamilton won comfortably.
- In Mississippi, prediction markets now have Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom surging above 90 percent to take a state that Trump recently carried by 23 points.
I’m genuinely finding it hard to wrap my mind around an election result where Kansas voted like New Hampshire and Mississippi voted like Wisconsin.
derekthompson.org/p/the-trum…
Sarah Isgur retweeted
“And the thing is, 50-50 elections are very bad for political parties because you don't learn any lessons from losing. You only learn lessons when you lose big.” -Yuval Levin
Sarah Isgur retweeted
This isn't a tsunami or anything like that. This is a complete collapse of the Republican coalition.
My Twitter handle comes from the Whig Party that went extinct in 1856—a reminder that nothing in politics is permanent. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln, former Whig, was elected under a new political party banner.
Tonight feels like we just witnessed the death of a political party.
Sarah Isgur retweeted
I’ve been meaning to read @whignewtons’s Last Branch Standing since it came out. Last night, I finally picked it up to read while supporting today’s election. I’m not far into it, but it’s been great so far. – at Laguna Beach, CA
Sarah Isgur retweeted
@whignewtons on swings in Texas:
"I put my children on swings. I would not put my children on equipment that did that."