The Supreme Court Majority Rewrote the Rules of Democracy, Empowered an Authoritarian Presidency, and Set the Stage for Trump

The Supreme Court majority has rewritten the rules of democracy, empowered an authoritarian presidency, and set the stage for the worst and most corrupt president in American history: Donald J. Trump.

The Court majority has shown itself to be a radical, partisan group of justices, overturning precedent after precedent, issuing decision after decision that benefits Republicans, and flouting the Founders’ foundational goals for the nation: no further kings and no person above the law.

In Citizens United (2010), the Court overruled precedent and opened the door to unlimited and secret money that have flooded American politics.

In Shelby County (2013) and Callais (2026), the Court overruled precedent and gutted key protections in the Voting Rights Act, known as the “crown jewel” of the civil rights movement. The Act served for half a century as the foundation for fair and even-handed voting rights. Those two decisions reopened the door to racial discrimination in voting and provided an electoral advantage to Republicans.

In Rucho (2019), the Court abandoned any effort to address the problem of extreme partisan gerrymandering, even while acknowledging that political gerrymandering is “incompatible with democratic principles.” The Court abdicated its responsibility by saying, in essence, that extreme partisan gerrymandering was a wrong without a remedy in federal court.

The Court compounded its failure by making it easier for states to defend racially discriminatory maps simply by asserting that their purpose was partisan rather than racial. This doctrine will significantly benefit Republicans, as it sets the stage for gerrymandering a number of Black representatives out of their seats

In Trump v. United States (2024), written by Chief Justice Roberts, the majority rejected protections the Founders devised to prevent Americans from ever having another king. The Court, for the first time, granted presidents criminal immunity for “official acts.” In doing so, the Court majority rejected the foundational principle of our democracy that nobody is above the law.

This decision was an open invitation for a president to become an authoritarian leader, and Trump embraced that invitation immediately after he was sworn in last year. He has operated ever since according to his stated belief that under the Constitution, “I can do whatever I want as president.” (Of course, the Constitution says no such thing.)

Roberts’s historically disastrous opinion gave presidents explicit, complete control over the Justice Department. Trump grabbed that too. He has used that control to conduct an unprecedented, vicious campaign of vengeance, retaliation, and retribution against his perceived enemies and political opponents.

Last month, the Court majority gave Trump additional, nearly unchallengeable power in the Slaughter (2026) decision. The Court overturned longstanding precedent to rule that the president has unquestionable power to fire officials throughout the executive branch, with the Federal Reserve treated as an exception.

The decision wiped out more than a century of independent federal agencies and advanced the unitary executive theory, a conservative legal theory that started to gain prominence during the Reagan administration and was long supported by Chief Justice Roberts.

The Supreme Court ended up giving unprecedented and exceedingly dangerous power to a narcissistic, unhinged president. Trump has used his first eighteen months in office to threaten, harass, bully, sue, attack judges, and generate revenge criminal investigations. At the same time, Trump and his family have reaped billions of dollars from ventures launched or expanded while he was seeking and holding office, including World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP memecoin.

The Court has created the opportunity for Trump to override the limits our Founders established on presidential power and has enabled Trump to become the kind of authoritarian that exists in countries around the world.

The Supreme Court’s credibility and authority depend on public approval and acceptance. The Court no longer has either, as shown by some of its lowest approval ratings among the American people. A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll shows that “55 percent of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court’s performance while only 41 percent approve.” Gallup and Pew polls last year similarly showed public disapproval of the Court.

The Supreme Court majority has failed the American people and failed the Founders who gave us a republic.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, it is now up to us, the American people, to “keep it.”

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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s newsletter, and other recent editions, here. And subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.