Sen. Tim Kaine Says US Supreme Court Decision “Destroying Agency Independence” Will Have “grave consequences for America’s dedicated civil servants, as well as our economy, health, and safety”

I continue to be amazed, and not in a good way, at how few Democrats have been commenting on the far-right-extremist, illegitimate, corrupt US Supreme Court majority’s numerous horrendous decisions the past week.  It makes me feel like Democrats STILL, incredibly, don’t “get it” regarding this disastrous Court, but I hope I’m wrong about that. Anyway, this morning, the Court issued an absolutely disastrous ruling, in  Trump v. Slaughter, which – as Sen. Tim Kaine points out, in the statement below –  “will allow Trump to fire independent agency heads at will.” I hope to see a lot more statements by Democrats, but more importantly, what I really want to see is a PLAN for what Democrats are going to do about the Supreme Court disaster if/when they take back the US House, US Senate and White House. Because the bottom line is that this Court, as currently constituted and empowered, iis 100% incompatible with U.S. democracy, rule of law, the constitution, etc.

Also note that if we continue with this current Court’s 6-3 far-right-extremist majority, even IF we elect a Democratic president in 2028, and even IF they actually get to take the oath of office, they will be severely hamstrung from day #1 by the far-right Supreme Court. And no, I do NOT believe that the Kavanaugh, Thomas, Alito, etc. will allow the crazy rulings they’ve issued allowing Trump to get away with murder, literally and figuratively, will allow those same rulings to also apply to a Democratic president. Instead, they’ll rapidly reverse course, suddenly find some excuse to strike down their own rulings, at least in the case of a Democratic president. Because that’s how these f***ers roll, and it’s long past time for Democrats to realize that and act accordingly!  

KAINE STATEMENT ON SUPREME COURT DESTROYING AGENCY INDEPENDENCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a former civil rights attorney, released the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which will allow Trump to fire independent agency heads at will:

“Today, the Supreme Court set a precedent that will have grave consequences for America’s dedicated civil servants, as well as our economy, health, and safety. For more than a century, heads of independent agencies that Congress created to do the nuts-and-bolt work of monitoring and regulating health, safety, and critical parts of the economy could not be fired by the President for political reasons. But now, the Supreme Court sides with the Trump-Vance Administration’s war on that crucial independence and destroyed that precedent. That means if President Trump sees that an agency is standing in the way of his corrupt self-dealing or lawlessness, he can simply fire its leadership and either replace them with political hacks or leave the agency decapitated. When the hardworking, patriotic Americans who do the day-to-day work of monitoring financial markets, overseeing nuclear energy, protecting consumers from deceptive practices, or keeping unsafe products off of shelves can be sacked at Trump’s whim, every American loses.”

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UPDATE: Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) nails it.