Donald Trump will be blocked from putting a “rightwinger” on the US supreme court, according to Chuck Schumer, the soon-to-be Senate majority leader, in remarks that were a preview of how Democrats intend to wield their power come January.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Schumer said Democrats would not confirm “any crappy nominees” to the supreme court, lower courts or Trump’s cabinet.
“The bottom line is we’re not going to allow a rightwinger on the court,” Schumer said. Four supreme court justices are in their 70s, and its two most conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, are the oldest on the court at 78 and 76 years old, respectively.
After scoring massive midterm-election wins and taking back both chambers of Congress, Democratic leaders are planning their comeback for when the new Congress is sworn in. That includes major pushback against the US president and his policies.
Some Democrats are planning to launch investigations into Trump and members of his administration. On Tuesday evening, Robert Garcia, the soon-to-be chair of the House oversight committee, warned Republicans to “lawyer up”.
Others are preparing to push forward legislation they promised to voters, and Democratic leaders will enjoy wide margins in both the House and Senate to pass key priorities like restoring Medicaid cuts from Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and halting funding for the war in Iran. Trump has indicated he plans to veto bills he doesn’t agree with.
Democrats have secured 54 Senate seats for the next Congress, and that number would increase to 56 if Democratic candidates in Mississippi and Alaska triumph. Neither race has been called, but the Democrats lead in both. Democrats also will have at least 253 House seats after flipping more than 40 seats, as of Friday morning.
Schumer told the Associated Press he anticipates Democrats will have enough power to reject Trump’s nominees and halt other policies.
The supreme court is one area where Democrats plan to push back heavily.
During his first term, Trump nominated three justices to the supreme court, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, which solidified a 6-3 conservative majority that has batted away many – though not all – of the challenges to Trump’s second term policies.
Thomas or Alito still have six weeks left of a Republican Senate that could in theory confirm a Trump appointee to the high court, but Thomashas not indicated he plans to retire.
Alito denied rumors he was retiring and reiterated his plan to Fox News on Thursday , telling the news organization he plans to stay on the court for the remainder of the term, regardless of Democrats’ sweeping win.
As Democrats prepare for their return, Republicans are reflecting on how and why they lost so badly.
Over the last few days, top Republicans have played the blame game , pointing fingers at Trump’s war with Iran and tariffs for raising everyday costs.
JD Vance, the vice-president, acknowledged how the Iran war caused widespread frustrations. Ted Cruz, a senator from Texas, said Trump’s tariffs drove up costs. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, admitted Republicans’ vote on the Epstein files reflected poorly on the party.
Trump, meanwhile, has directed his attention to personal issues – largely related to construction projects in Washington DC.
But he suffered another blow on Friday when a federal judge blocked construction work from beginning on his planned triumphal arch for 14 days, after it was given the go ahead on Thursday by a commission packed with Trump loyalists.
On Monday, the day before the consequential elections, the US president held a press conference to unveil his administration’s latest upgrades to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool . The costly and controversial project has been in and out of headlines over the last year because administration officials sought to blame “vandals” for the project’s failures. A Trump-appointed US attorney later determined those failures were the result of poor work.
On Wednesday, the day after Republicans lost the majority in Congress, Trump held another press conference to show off the latest renovation to the White House ballroom , another costly and controversial project.
The US president spent more than 20 minutes discussing the details of his ballroom and only addressed his party’s massive failures when reporters asked him directly about it.
On Thursday, after suffering even more losses in Congress, Trump held a press conference in the Oval Office to sign a proclamation preventing future presidents from changing the design of his gilded Oval Office and Cabinet Room.
“I just thought it was very important that nobody be allowed to come and take it down and try and do something with it,” Trump said on Thursday.
