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Trump’s birthright citizenship order may force SCOTUS conservatives to pick sides

It feels a little naive to hope for the best when talking about the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court.

After all, this is the same court that recently created the stringent two-part test of “a president can do whatever they want when they want, provided their name is also Donald Trump.” Listening to oral arguments on Thursday, however, one could be forgiven for seeing a potential break with Trump and his MAGA minions at the Department of Justice.

Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch seemed deeply skeptical of the Trump admin’s request to overturn court orders blocking the president’s move to end birthright citizenship. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh questioned the practical implications of country where it’s unclear if newborns are citizens, with the latter actively grilling the DOJ’s attorneys about how hospitals would handle the situation.

Barrett, for her part, seemed wary of offering another signal that the Trump admin could brush off court orders that hampered its agenda. The Trump appointee worried that the administration appeared ready to disregard any opinion it didn’t like.

Team Trump offered little to allay the concerns of the court’s conservatives. While a straightforward 6-3 rebuke of the birthright citizenship order is no sure thing (and is, in fact, unlikely), the administration could find itself stymied by a sea of conservative concurrences.

Make me smarter…

How the Supreme Court encouraged Trump to defy the law

Curious how we got to this point? Legal historians and other experts laid out the way that Supreme Court cases have encouraged the Trump administration to flout court orders. Read more. 

They said what?

• “White genocide”

  Grok, the chatbot attached to Elon Musk’s X, became weirdly obsessed with the alleged plight of the Boers in South Africa this week. The “artificial intelligence” frequently chimed in to conversations on the platform, sharing non-sequitors centered around white nationalist talking points. When asked directly, the bot said it had been pushed to talk about the subject via “a deliberate adjustment in my programming or training data.”

• “You must be truly f**king stupid”

  White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to a reporter asking about the lack of Trump speech transcripts with furious anger. “We’re so transparent,” Cheung added. “For anyone to think otherwise proves they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Stop beclowning yourself.”

• “It means basically what you’re buying: food.”

  Trump shared his obsession over the word “groceries” with the president of the United Arab Emirates. The president has fixated on the “old-fashioned” word as costs for staple goods have soared.

• “David Hogg is not being honest with you”

  DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta rushed to defend the party’s actions as they’ve moved to oust upstart Vice Chair David Hogg. Hogg has pushed a progressive turn for the party and encouraged competitive primaries against conservative and moderate Dems. The party found problems with the election that elevated Hogg to his current position, throwing the election out in a poorly timed procedural move.

A deeper dive…

Consultant Mark Mellman on the Democrats’ "branding problem"

The public fight over Hogg’s bold vision for the party could not have come at a worse time. Consultant Mark Mellman spoke with Salon about the public conception of a party in shambles. Read more.

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Before you go…

Trump's traveling trunk show is backfiring

Trump has made it pretty clear where his shriveled little heart lies. And it lies often about everything to benefit himself and no one else. Read more.