Koch Network pushes Supreme Court to 'undermine workers’ rights' and 'consumer protection'

Although Democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the United States' last eight presidential elections, they have had terrible luck with the U.S. Supreme Court. Only one-third of the High Court consists of Democratic appointees, and the other two-thirds consists of three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump and three appointed by previous Republican presidents.

The High Court leaned conservative during the 1990s, but GOP-appointed justices of the past such as Anthony Kennedy, David Souter and Sandra Day O'Connor were a lot more nuanced than the current 6-3 Republican majority — a majority that, according to Guardian reporters Ed Pilkington and Nick Surgey, billionaire Charles Koch is hoping to take full advantage of.

Koch has been a major donor to right-wing causes and GOP candidates, and the Guardian journalists report that he is encouraging the High Court to work against "federal agencies and government regulations."

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"The network has been working behind the scenes to bring cases before the Court that, if successful, could undermine many of the core (functions) of the U.S. government," Pilkington and Surgey report in an article published on October 26. "At least two of the biggest cases to be considered by the justices this term have been spurred by groups bankrolled and coordinated within the Koch universe. Footage of an internal panel discussion between senior operatives from Koch entities held in the summer of 2022 reveals that the network has been quietly planning the current assault on the 'administrative state.'"

According to Pilkington and Surgey, the "regulatory controls" under attack by Charles Koch and his allies "include environmental standards to combat pollution and the climate crisis, consumer protections against predatory lenders, and safeguards for workers' rights."

"Two of the most significant cases before the Court in the 2023-24 term, brought with the backing of Koch-linked organizations, attempt to rein back the government's power to impose regulations on corporations," the journalists note. "The prominence of the cases underlines how the libertarian empire created by the Kochs is still a force to be reckoned with within U.S. politics."