In the midst of GOP angst that the new Democratic Senate majority could stop the confirmation of MAGA judges, right-wing ABC News and SCOTUSblog analyst Sarah Isgur came up with a bizarre idea on Thursday: President Donald Trump could just nominate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's replacement even if he hasn't retired, just to pre-emptively prevent Democrats from having control over the nominating process.
"Alito won't retire in the lame duck and he doesn't need to," wrote Isgur on X. "Trump can nominate someone to the Supreme Court and the senate (sic) 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 (sic) Cornyn/Tillis/Thune."
Isgur's theory got soundly smacked down by political and legal analysts alike — with even some fellow conservatives calling her idea a nonstarter.
"I didn't figure you as the one who'd bring Jan 6 logic to SCOTUS appointments. But here we are," wrote Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo.
"LOL. The Federalist Society wants to loophole their way into another SCOTUS seat after Trump lost Mississippi? Hell no," wrote former GOP speechwriter turned anti-Trump activist Tim Miller. "Hope they like ACB because with 56 Dem Senators it's gonna be a long, long time before this cartel gets another justice."
"This would be a crazy and toxic thing for the GOP to do, and if they did it, it would only radicalize and incentivize cautious centrist Senate Dems to expand the court in 2029 under a Dem president," wrote Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo News.
"I am just a tad skeptical that Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, and Lisa Murkowski will spend the lame duck after Republican Ragnarok pre-confirming Donald Trump's lifetime Supreme Court nominee," wrote Vox.com's Benjy Sarlin.
"Sarah is referring to the insane Biden OLC opinion that said you can *appoint* judges without a vacancy that they cooked up for KBJ for reasons that have never entirely made sense to me," wrote Mike Fragoso, a former legal adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
"This is a great way to buy yourself a 15-member court once Democrats get the White House," wrote Will Saletan of The Bulwark.
Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.
For customer support contact support@rawstory.com.
