Last June, the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that Roe v. Wade falsely established a constitutional right to abortion. This week, the Supreme Court declared that race-based admissions were also unconstitutional in its ruling in Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions vs. the University of North Carolina.
On Friday, to cap off the term, the court delivered a huge victory for free speech in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, in which the court ruled in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refused to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings because of her religious objections, and officially declared Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan unconstitutional in Biden v. Nebraska.
These are just a few of the significant victories the conservative movement has experienced in the past few years. And President Donald Trump deserves credit for helping make these victories possible. Had he not been elected in 2016, Merrick Garland would be sitting on the Supreme Court today instead of Neil Gorsuch, and Trump’s two other Supreme Court picks, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, would not be on the high court.
Each time the court has ruled against the wishes of leftists, they pull no punches attacking the court and questioning its legitimacy. Democrats were so terrified of the 6-3 conservative majority on the court that soon after Biden took office they initiated a serious attempt to pack the court with a left-wing majority by expanding the number of seats via legislation — though it ultimately backfired. As such, the 6-3 conservative majority, which includes three Trump picks, remains.
And as we celebrate these victories, conservatives nationwide should acknowledge that these decisions are part of Trump’s presidential legacy. After all, Trump has never been shy about taking credit for conservative victories on the court.
“Today’s decision, which is the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation, along with other decisions that have been announced recently, were only made possible because I delivered everything as promised, including nominating and getting three highly respected and strong Constitutionalists confirmed to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said in a statement when the Dobbs ruling was released. “It was my great honor to do so!”
But these conservative victories should also be a reminder of just how easily they could have never happened. Trump’s surprise victory in 2016 made it possible. Yet this majority is extremely fragile. Had the 2020 election turned out differently, there would be a 7-2 majority instead of a 6-3 majority. If Joe Biden isn’t defeated in 2024, pending Supreme Court retirements could result in a more evenly divided court. All of the cases mentioned in this article were decided on ideological lines, which tells you how important elections are.
Fortunately, the 2024 Senate map presents a promising opportunity for the Republican Party to regain control of the Senate. The map is even more favorable to the GOP than it was in 2022, and there is reason to believe that the party can win back the Senate with a comfortable margin. In fact, that margin is so comfortable that some projections suggest that Democrats may face significant challenges in reclaiming the Senate majority until as late as 2030 or 2032.
The 2024 election could be the moment that secures a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for a generation. Conservatives must get out the vote.