Dem
51
GOP
49
Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced that the Biden administration would be allowed to cut down the razor wire that Texas has strung along a 2-mile segment of the Mexican border.
The vote was 5-4. Undoubtedly you can guess that the three liberals and Chief Justice John Roberts were part of the five, and that Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were part of the four. So, the only question is which justice between Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority. And the answer is: Barrett. The order was brief, and did not explain the justices' reasoning, but we cannot imagine what the four justices in the minority are thinking. What reading of the law says that it's OK for states to usurp federal authority to maintain the border?
In any event, conservatives are howling mad. To take just one example, among many, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) declared that Texas should defy the Supreme Court and the White House, and should stand its ground. This really speaks to how very much some of these folks are out to lunch. Regardless of one's opinion on the border, a couple of miles of razor wire is just political theater, and isn't actually doing anything. To believe that it's not only working, but that its efficacy is great enough to justify de facto rebellion against the U.S. government, is delusional.
Of course, this whole drama isn't over. All that SCOTUS did yesterday was strike down an injunction. That lets the feds take down the wire for now, but the case is still pending in the Fifth Circuit, which already gave its tentative blessing with the now-dead injunction. So, once this is adjudicated the wire could be right back in place. (Z)