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- cross-posted to:
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The conservative justice was not present for oral arguments on Monday, but the court did not provide a reason why.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was not present at the court for oral arguments on Monday, with the court giving no reason for his absence.
Chief Justice John Roberts said in court that Thomas “is not on the bench today” but would “participate fully” in the two cases being argued based on the briefs and transcripts.
A court spokeswoman had no further information.
Thomas, 75, is the eldest of the nine justices. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
You need a recess in order to make a recess appointment, and both houses of Congress often keep a few legislators around the Capitol just to pound the gavel so the Senate never actually goes into recess.
And in regards to judicial appointments, Harry Reid killed its use for judicial appointments when the Republicans in the minority during Obama’s time in office filibustered everything. Reid kept it in place for SC justices, though. Mitch removed it for SC justices, too, when Democrats started making noise about filibustering Gorsuch.
And that’s the weird thing about the Fillibuster. It institutes a 60 vote threshold to get most things done, but it was always just a Senate rule and Senate rules are set by a simple majority. It can go away tomorrow if 51 Senators agree to get rid of it.
I don’t trust dems to not fuck this up. I can see them again trying to take the “high road”