The right-wing takeover of the federal courts

The most destructive and lasting legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency is barely getting covered by the corporate media: the right-wing takeover of the federal courts.

A whopping 150+ judges nominated by Donald Trump have been confirmed by Mitch McConnell to lifetime seats, where for decades they will be able to green-light voter suppression, end abortion rights, and block any restrictions on guns.

Now Mitch McConnell is scrambling to ram through as many of these far-right judges as he can before the 2020 election, and Common Dreams is the only independent nonprofit news outlet shining a spotlight on these nominations.

The Supreme Court get lots of press coverage, but the vast majority of cases never reach it. Most are decided by lower courts, which are becoming completely taken over by Trump.

You see, during the Obama administration, Mitch McConnell blocked or delayed dozens of Obama's judicial appointments. Then when Trump was elected, McConnell went to work filling those empty seats with Trump nominees.

Today, nearly 1 in 4 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals was appointed by Trump. And long after Trump is gone, those judges will be there, pushing his far-right agenda.

These are judges who reject the rights of LGBTQ+ persons. They don't believe women should decide when and whether to start families. And a disturbing number don't even support Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down school segregation.

Over the next year, McConnell will scramble to finish the Trump court takeover. But we'll be watching, calling out his most extreme picks—people like Steven Menashi, an open Islamophobe who calls Roe v. Wade "radical.”

Voters have no chance of influencing these nominations unless they know the facts.