Democrats Debate Trying To Throw Justice Sotomayor Overboard Before Trump Takes Office
Democrats fear Sotomayor will “Ruth Bader Ginsburg” them, and will die when Republicans control the Senate and presidency in 2025, allowing Trump to nominate her replacement.
This is an obviously “racist” move by Democrats, sickening actually. My hands are shaking as I type this. Literally.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, self-described as the “wise Latina,” reportedly is not in great health. Not on the verge of death, but not well.
Democrats fear Sotomayor will “Ruth Bader Ginsburg” them, and will die when Republicans control the Senate and presidency in 2025.
WATCH: Trump hears from a reporter that Justice Ginsburg has died.
"She just died? Wow. I didn't know that, you're telling me now for the first time."
"She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman…I'm sad to hear that." pic.twitter.com/5Na3vHzP7f
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) September 19, 2020
What a time it was.
LANGUAGE WARNING
Shouldn't she have pulled over? #RuthBaderGinsburg pic.twitter.com/8KlRhKsMvI
— Evi L. Bloggerlady (@MsEBL) September 19, 2020
They are still fuming at how in late 2020 Republicans rushed through Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg in the waning months of the first Trump presidency.
In April 2024, I wrote about the growing chorus of Democrats calling on Sotomayor to resign, Then The Liberals Came For Sonia Sotomayor:
Amy Coney Barrett filled the Ginsburg seat. Democrats remain furious over it, it’s the deep pain that will not heal.
So now liberals are targeting Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the self-described ‘Wise Latina’ who is 69 years old. Per the mortality tables, on average, she has 12 more years to live. So it’s unlikely she would die or retire from illness during the next Trump term. But she apparently has some sort of health issues, so much so she reportedly travels with a medic.
So for Democrats, having Sotomayor hang on is a roll of the dice. That’s a gamble they don’t want to take, so there is a growing chorus of liberal/leftist pundits calling for Sotomayor to resign.
With Kamala having just gone down to defeat, but Democrats still controlling the Senate and the presidency until January, Democrats are debating whether and how to force Sotomayor out so Biden can select a nominee and Democrats can confirm the nominee by ear end. In the vest of cases, it would be a logistical stretch. Ginsburg died on September 18:
Barret was nominated on September 20 of that year; Senate Judiciary hearings started on October 12; and she was confirmed and sworn in on October 26. So it’s not impossible that Democrats could get it done by late December, but there are all sorts of additional scheduling problems like holidays and the normal recess. But it would be heavy lift.
Yet it’s the focus of a lot of maneuvering. Politico reports:
Two months from now, Republicans will be in control of the U.S. Senate. They’ll have at least 53 seats. And as soon as DONALD TRUMP is sworn in on Jan. 20, they’ll be revving up the old conveyor belt of conservative judicial nominees, tilting the courts further in their favor for decades.
For Democrats, this is a hair-on-fire moment. And though the discourse in the media is presently dominated by recriminations about how this all happened, another arguably more urgent conversation is blowing up largely outside of public view: whether to push for 70-year-old Supreme Court Justice SONIA SOTOMAYOR to step down while Dems still have the power to approve her replacement.
This isn’t simply some flight of fancy happening among progressive activists online. It’s a conversation members of the Senate are actively engaged in.
One senator Playbook spoke with last night told us that the topic has come up repeatedly this week in talks with their colleagues. Inevitably, those conversations end up with a recognition of two realities: (1) It’d be a risky play with the party already trying to figure out how to handle a crowded lame-duck session, and (2) no senator seems to be offering to be the person to put his or her neck on their line publicly (or even privately) by pushing for Sotomayor to step aside.
The conversations have gone far enough that a possible replacement has been bandied about: D.C. Circuit Judge J. MICHELLE CHILDS, who was on President JOE BIDEN’s SCOTUS short list. It’s obvious why: Childs has already been vetted, is seen as moderate and even received backing by conservative senators like LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) last go round. (Though you can be damn sure that Republicans would do everything imaginable to stop a lame-duck confirmation.)
But inevitably, this chatter runs into major logistical concerns.
The NY Post adds that not all Democrats are on board, at least not publicly, with throwing Sotomayor overboard:
But at least some of the senators are loath to publicly leak the notion or even privately urge Sotomayor, a solid liberal vote on the high court and its first Hispanic justice, to leave her post over potential health issues, the report said….
A former Senate Democratic aide told The Post it’s a fool’s errand to think Sotomayer would step aside and the Senate would be able to confirm a Democratic replacement in time.
“That’s insane. That’s not going to happen,” the source said. “If Sotomayor were to resign, [Dem Senate Leader] Chuck Schumer couldn’t get a confirmation done in time.”
Those involved in the talks also have acknowledged that it would be difficult to pull off during President Biden’s lame-duck session.
“We would have to have assurances from any shaky senator that they would back a nominee in the lame-duck,” a senior Democratic source told Politico.
Leave Sonia alone.
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Comments
LOL.
The left has no sympathy for the Empathetic, Wise Latina. Fitting.
Maybe if she had been an empathetic, wise latinX they would leave her alone, now? Can’t have a “latina” on the SCOTUS mucking up the left’s gender-affirming surgery on Spanish … sort of the same wya they quoted Ruth Bader Ginsburg about abortion and changed all of RBG’s uses of “woman” and “her” to “person”/”people”/”they” and “their”.
I have absolutely no sympathy for Sotomayor
Her shenanigans in Ricci was appalling, and should forever disqualified her before Obama appointed her
Her dissent in Shuette where she would have held that it is unconstitutional for the state of Michigan to amend their state constitution to require compliance with the 14th amendment shows how unqualified she is.
better get a bigger crane
I just saw a clip of a guy on CNN say that Biden should nominate Kamala Harris if they can chase away Sotomayor.
60 days to swearing in the new Congress. Is there enough time for these shenanigans?
One thing’s for sure: domestic commie agitators won’t be calling in any “non-credible Russian bomb threats” to the Capitol building anytime soon
If 50 senators are willing to do it, they probably could. There’s no filibuster for nominees, and they could waive hearings or hold a pro-forma one just to check off the box.
The image of VP Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the Senate to confirm *herself* to the Supreme Court would be a glorious distillation of what the Democratic Party stands for these days.
But there’s no way they get all 50 Democrats on board with this, and even less chance of getting any Republicans to join in.
And Justice Sotomayor would have to resign *first*, which leaves the seat open for Trump to fill it.
She wouldn’t have to resign first. There’s plenty of precedent for the president nominating someone for an expected vacancy before it actually materializes.
Harris is extremely unqualified
She’s not even qualified to be disqualified.
Judge Judy would be more qualified and it’s not even close.
“. Per the mortality tables, on average, she has 12 more years to live.”
******
For a Type I diabetic of her generation, she has probably exceeded her life expectancy.
Math proposes, conditional probability disposes.
She’s also prone to hypoglycaemia and travels with a medic which tells me she doesn’t have particularly good control over her blood glucose levels. That will significantly shorten her life.
And her mental capacity.
SHV – for her level of type 1 diabetic, she has exceeded her life expectancy. However, the correct measurement is the life expectancy for someone that has reached age 70, which is approx 16 more years (age 86-87). Adjust that for her diabetes and is closer to 8-12 years.
fwiw, Sotomayor is most likely going to live 5-7 more years, thus likely hoping for a democrat adminstration in 2029.
They just got burn tossing a sitting president, you think they want to try that with a sitting jurist now?
When has the Left ever learned from its mistakes?
Exactly. I don’t think they could nominate and confirm a judge in the time left. They would just be handing Trump a present.
Justice Cannon. ’nuff said.
If the Dems ram through a replacement for Sotomayor in 60 days, my guess would be that would be the maximum time it would take the Republicans to confirm a 40 year old successor to Thomas and Alito. The Republicans aren’t in a position to argue after fast-tracking Barrett–but replacing Sotomayor so quickly would give license to the Republicans to do the same for future vacancies. Plus the Democrats would have to deal with Sinema and Manchin, while the Republicans can flip off Murkowski and Collins (I can understand Collins–Maine is–at best–a purple state, but Alaska is conservative–Murkowski is a disgrace–but neither of them counts with 52 Republican senators).
We can thank Bitch McConnell for Murkowski still being around.
They don’t have 60 days. If they started on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday), they would have 51 days until the new Congress convenes.
She has no husband, no children. She sacrificed everything for her professional career and finally reached the pinnacle of that career with a lifetime appointment. Why would she quit to spend the rest of her days with her cats? She’s not going anywhere. The left really doesn’t understand their own constituency.
Um, TikTok video recorded in a righthand drive vehicle????
Selfie lens records backwards.
I consider it etiquette to reverse mine, but most thots don’t.
The Left: Get out of the way, Old Woman.
So who’s surprised?
.
As usual, the left does not even understand the concept of respect.
They don’t respect the court.
They don’t respect the person who has been one of their most reliable – if frequently illogical – votes on the court.
They don’t respect their own alleged belief that any opposition to a person of ethnic descent is always racist.
They don’t respect the concept of advise and consent.
And they don’t respect the common sense that should tell them not to trust the senile old man they back stabbed out of even attempting re-election to do what they want.
Individuals are not important, they are interchangeable cogs to the left.
And that right there is the core truth of the matter. To the left there is only power. Like the Party in Orwell’s ‘1984,’ the individual doesn’t matter even slightly and can be replaced at a moment’s notice in the pursuit of more power.
Biden was replaced because he showed his senility at the debate and the Democrats became worried they would lose the election. If they will do that to a sitting US president then no one is safe. Sotomayor’s head will be put on the chopping block if they feel the need to secure that SC seat. Probably the only thing stopping them is the worry that the Republicans could delay until after January, giving Trump a free vacancy.
They don’t realize they’re all the horse in Animal Farm. Give everything for the party/revolution, then be sold to the knacker’s when you get too old, slow, and useless to them.
But they don’t really have any leverage to make her go. They are talking nonsense.
“My hands are shaking as I type this. Literally.”
Mine are too, but I bet it’s not for the same reason. 🤣
READER POLL:
Who watched the video of the woman driving and going crazy at least 5 times?
Who has time to watch that one video five times when there are so many similarly wonderful videos to watch?
That was five separate videos, wasn’t it? I mean, it is hard to tell them apart but…
It’s interesting to watch these conversations unfold—so much focus on the shifting dynamics of the court and all the speculation around motivations and allegiances. It reminds me of how some folks focus only on the big changes and miss the smaller adjustments that make a difference in the long run. Speaking of small but impactful upgrades, if anyone’s looking for something to give their EV a boost, For Tesla’s Custom Hubcaps & Wheel Covers – [[for-tesla.com]] might be worth a look. They’re built to improve aerodynamics and range while adding a sleek look, and they’re designed specifically for Tesla and other EV owners who want both style and efficiency.
Sometimes the best moves are the ones that make the everyday experience better without drastic changes—kind of like some judges on the court, working steadily behind the scenes, making those nuanced, less flashy decisions.
These same demonrats floating this trial balloon are the same fools calling Hispanics racist. That’s a real motivation for the Wise Latina to step down. Delusional doesn’t begin to describe these fools.
Traded a rock hard liberal in notorious RBG with a super squishy con with not-so-notorious ACB.
Leftists needn’t worry so much, it’s hard to find a real constitutional judge and not a activist
And, they tend to go over to the dark side after that lifetime appointment. DC cocktail parties.
Clarence Thomas being an exception.
It’s only a hair on fire moment because they keep refusing to contemplate defeat.
When Harry Reid dumped the filibuster for judicial appointments, it never occurred to him that it could be used by Republicans — and they’ve been stuck on stupid about it ever since.
Yea, that one still brings a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart when I think about how many good judges were confirmed because of that move.
Just set her adrift on the next ice floe. Problem solved.
Having people pass away or voluntarily step down from SCOTUS due to health or personal reasons is one thing, to try and force someone out would make the same people who just rejected the Biden Administration by voting Trump by a huge margin even more angry. If Dems tried to go down that road the next election would be brutal.
Especially if Biden appoints Garland. That would be an FU move perfectly in character for the spiteful old fossil.
Biden is in office for another 70 days. The current Congress has less time remaining, it comes back from recess on 12 Nov. The next Congress is seated on 3 January. Got both Thanksgiving break and end of year/Christmas break. Still have some budget actions that need passage. Doing this is possible but extremely unlikely especially since no one can force her out it she doesn’t agree. Even a cooked up impeachment would just get her out and leave no time/not enough votes to confirm a replacement. This is d/prog wish casting, shoulda, coulda, woulda.
“Even a cooked up impeachment would just get her out and leave no time/not enough votes to confirm a replacement.”
Hey, the Democrats respect Sotomayor and would never…
HAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, I can’t even finish that sentence. They’d feed her to starving dogs if they thought it was to their advantage. You’re right that the only thing stopping them would be timing.
Sotomayor has no reason to quit. Why should she? The only way they can get her out is to assassinate her, and I wouldn’t put this past the Left. They will do anything. If she gets Seth Riched, we will know the Big Prog Money was behind it.
I see what you did there.
lets see ….
1. the Dems tossed a sitting president running for reelection who had won his primary and installed a person who had NEVER gotten one Primary vote never mind won a primary.
this didn’t sit well with a lot of voters.
2. do they plan on forgery on paperwork and kidnapping the SC justice?
3. perhaps they will attempt to impeach her … they want to impeach Thomas ….
this is gonna be fun to watch.
what senator is gonna put this forward. glad I stocked up on popcorn.
At least for the next 2 years impeachment of Thomas is a no go, with the GOP in charge of the senate.
And the House. So impeachment doesn’t even start.
Not going to happen in this lame duck.
But you’ll appreciate why the crazed liberals (but I repeat myself) are doing this. They didn’t expect to lose, or lose so badly.
Now it dawns on them that the justice the Grim Reaper is most interested in is on their side.
Panic!
By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, in the next two years, Trump may get the opportunity to replace 4 retiring justices – Roberts, Thomas, Alito & Sotomayor.
Except this time he doesn’t have to worry about expending political capital in nominating a justice along the lines of Scalia because 1) no reelection concerns, 2) broader R majority and 3) the Overton window shifted hard to the right last Tuesday night.
I’m sure it’s “being discussed” by some of the left. And their concerns are real: with her health history (Type 1 diabetic women typically live 13 years less than average), she’s already on borrowed time, and thus there is a very, very good chance the actuarial tables may catch up with her during PDT 2.0.
But I do not think she is going anywhere. RBG had MUCH more serious health issues for years (when I attended a SCOTUS argument in 2019, I was shocked at how utterly frail she appeared physically, as well as how sharp she still was mentally). Yet while there was a serious effort to get her to step down in 2014 while Obama still had the Senate, she would not budge.
Sotomajor will be no different. As someone noted above, the job defines her — no family, no prior career (like teaching or academia) to return to, etc. And the justices typically do not retire during a session — for lots of reasons, they almost always want to wait until the end of the session in June.
Even if they could convince her to go, consider the logistics of making certain that every D Senator — especially Manchin and Sinema, plus lame ducks Testor, Brown, and probably Casey — is solidly on board up front for the replacement. That’s iffy at best, especially given the limited time available. Plus, any lame duck who lost to the GOP but goes along with this is gonna be viewed in the future as having thumbed his nose at the wishes of his constituents, which might not be a good idea if they intend to mount a comeback bid (e.g., Brown, who will probably run in the special election to fill Vance’s seat; and Casey, who is young enough to make another play).
Even if they managed to get all the pieces in place, if they didn’t pull it off (e.g., untimely death or illness of a Dem Senator) then they hand PDT a seat that would provide a guaranteed originalist court for decades.
Any, of course, after the huge shift in Hispanic voting, what would the effect be of being seen as forcing the only Latino on SCOTUS off the bench (especially if the only likely quickly-confirmable replacement would be a respected, sitting federal appellate judge). Methinks the Dems will want to study that issue first, but with only 51 days to go they do not have the luxury of time.
So while it’ll be the stuff of lots of commentary amoung the Reaistance 2.0 types, I don’t see this happening. And the longer it goes on without Sotomajor announcing she’s stepping down, the less likely it is.
Didn’t know Rubio was co author of this garbage, directed especially at Trump
And he seriously thought he was VP material?
Sorry Rubio, that was so 2016
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/trump-nato-congress/2024/11/08/id/1187317/
Why don’t the dems try to extend her life by having her go on a healthy exercise and diet program? Once she is no longer morbidly obese she will still be ugly and stupid, but will live longer.
I saw someone suggest that Trump troll the left and agree with their plans to “pack the court” with another 2-4 justices, and get rid of the filibuster in the Senate. Just start quoting these politicians and talking heads, and see what happens. Not plan to actually do it, but say that “in the interest of bringing opposite sides together, he is looking into some of their ideas”
OMG the Meltdown would be pricesless!
I think the wise Latina may have ethical issues from the sale of her crappy book. Let her stay so DJT can impeach her on the book issue. Then appoint Judge Judy.
DemoKKKrats better be careful. They might get bidened again.
Seems to be a pattern here with Democrats when the Constitution gets in the way.
Breyer, Biden, and now Sotomayor. Marxists have no respect for their elders.
We’re constantly being outfoxed by these clever Democrats:
1. Their “dump the incumbent” worked so well with the Kamala coup;
2. The new Justice will be appointed by Joey, with the advice of Jill, giving them another chance to stick it to Obama/Pelosi who screwed him (never mind the new Senate who has to confirm);
3. Their identity politics worked so well with Hispanics – this should seal the deal!
Go for it!
“Childs has already been vetted, is seen as moderate and even received backing by conservative senators….”
Yeah, so was Garland.
I wouldn’t really be messing with Sotomayor, if I remember correctly she is know to have a bit of a temper.
It won’t happen, but here is my Fever Dream. Say right around the end of the session in 2025, Sotomayor announces her retirement in 2026, retires lives a healthy long life writing books and giving speeches. The reaction of the left would be priceless, it would look like the end of Kingsman, lol.
I also wonder if Thomas will retire while Trump is in office and the Senate is controlled by the GOP?
To cook up an impeachment would be impossible. The House under current GOP would not initiate it. I don’t think the Senate Judiciary Committee would have enough time to go through all of the mandated work within that period of time. Congress will break for the holidays at least twice, and Sinema and Manchin, especially Manchin, won’t give Schumer the satisfaction of doing that just out of pure spite for the way he was treated.
Personally, I don’t think Sotomayor is ready to leave. She has no reason to leave, and she has a lot more she probably wants to accomplish. She has previously stated she would not resign. If anything, I can imagine Roberts has beefed up SCOTUS security right now to make sure some Democrat nut job(s) are not planning anything drastic.