The Supreme Court throws its weight around

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The Supreme Court throws its weight around

February 9, 2022

Stephen Collinson and Shelby Rose

Democracy denied

The right-wing Supreme Court majority enshrined by ex-President Donald Trump, and dubiously engineered by top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, is flexing its power to change America.

The court has already dispensed conservative rulings on gun control and abortion. Now it's wading into the fight over voting rights at a time when many Republican-led states are making it harder for minority Americans — who disproportionately vote for Democrats — to cast ballots.

The controversy is over a case in Alabama, a Southern conservative state with a painful racial history and a significant Black minority. It springs from the latest redrawing of congressional districts for the US House of Representatives, which takes place every 10 years after each census. Both parties have notoriously used the process for gerrymandering — parceling out their voters in a way that gives them the best chance to win the most seats.

In a late-night ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court effectively reinstated an Alabama electoral map that a lower court had shelved after finding it restricted the power of Black voters. The voting-age population of the Yellowhammer State is 27% Black, yet a new congressional map drawn up by the Republican-run state legislature had Blacks in the majority in just one of seven congressional districts. A lower court, acting in line with federal voting rights law, had ordered the drawing of a new map with a Black majority in two districts to more adequately reflect the state's demographics. But the Supreme Court stepped in — staying that order until it has a chance to hear the case. The court's stately pace means the case will not be decided in time for the 2022 midterm elections, likely disadvantaging Alabama's Black voters this year.

Most analysts see the ruling as a clear sign that the court will further erode protections meant to level the racial playing field in elections after already gutting large tracts of the Voting Rights Act, which allows the federal government to step in to prevent voter suppression on racial grounds. Republicans in the Senate, meanwhile, are blocking another attempt to ensure that every American gets to exercise their democratic rights, whatever their race. They are obstructing attempts by Democrats to pass new voting rights legislation, while a couple of moderate Democrats have blocked efforts to change the rules so that those measures can pass with only Democratic votes.

This all cements an impression, underscored by Trump's election fraud lies, that Republicans — who struggle to win popular-vote majorities — are simply stacking the political system to stay in power.

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Biden finds it hard to say 'You're fired'

US President Joe Biden speaks to his staff on January 21, 2021

On his very first day in office, President Joe Biden laid down the law to his staff.

"I'm not joking when I say this: If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot. No if, ands or buts," Biden said.

But when an internal investigation found that one of Biden's top science advisers, Eric Lander, violated workplace conduct policy and Lander apologized for speaking to colleagues in a "disrespectful or demeaning way," the President didn't sack him.

CNN's Kate Sullivan reports for Meanwhile that an investigation into Lander, first reported by Politico, found "credible evidence" of violations of the policy. "Corrective action was taken," an official told CNN, adding that Lander had to meet with senior White House leadership about the "seriousness of this matter."

But the administration struggled to explain why Lander had not been fired, given the pledge Biden made on his first day in office. White House press secretary Jen Psaki faced a grilling on the situation at a news briefing Monday. She said administration officials had told Lander his behavior was "inappropriate" and that the White House would monitor him for "compliance" moving forward.

Biden did not ask for Lander's resignation, a person familiar with the situation told CNN, but Lander offered it Monday night and the President accepted it. Lander will exit his role by next week.

It wasn't the first time someone working for the President was accused of misconduct and not fired "on the spot." Then-White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo reportedly threatened a reporter over a piece she was writing about Ducklo's romantic relationship with another reporter. He vowed he would "destroy her" if she published it — and made misogynistic comments. Ducklo was initially suspended for a week without pay, but only after Vanity Fair published an article exposing the episode. The next day, Ducklo submitted his letter of resignation.

Thanks for reading.

On Wednesday, Biden participates in a roundtable with CEOs of electric utilities to discuss his Build Back Better agenda. US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry travels to Mexico City. The UN Security Council meets on threats to international peace and security "caused by terrorist acts."