The Judiciary and The Federalist Society's Vision

As we focus our attention on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court we also might want to remember that at least one hundred and twenty federal judgeships are set to be filled by this new president.

It is also useful to recall that these vacancies were a result of the concerted efforts by the Republican controlled Congress to block, stall, and otherwise prevent a significant number of Obama appointees from their fair hearing and eventual seating. As Eric Lipton has chronicled in his work with The NY Times, this persistent stonewalling was inspired and supported by the Federalist Society under the direction of Leonard Leo and the substantial underwriting of the Koch Brothers. Not coincidentally, the current nominee for the Supreme Court is a long standing member of this organization whose stated purpose, among other things, is to promote an agenda featuring the elimination of governmental regulation and the reduction of federal intervention into the activity of the private sector. Exercising it's influence through judicial appointments is essential to the Federalists vision of radically limiting the scope of the federal government while advocating a laissez fairer attitude with respect to the affairs of private business and 'free market' forces.

Trumps cabinet and advisory appointments have also reflected this ideological trend. Scott Pruitt's placement as the head of the EPA was preceded by a thorough vetting by Leo and earlier by the late Antonin Scalia and Justice Thomas, both of whom were and are Federalist Society members. Another devotee to this ever influential organization and chief advisor to DJT is Steve Bannon who has orchestrated the philosophical direction of this administration from the beginning and further underscores the decidedly conservative tendency toward an austere and constricted concept of governmental purview. Indeed, Steve Bannon has taken it a step further by publicly declaring his intention to 'deconstruct the administrative state'. He also ominously stated that early efforts at deregulation were only the beginning when he invoked a baseball analogy by saying 'we are only in the top of the first'. While Bannon, Gorsuch, Leo, and the Federalist Society are currently enjoying their moment in the field of play, we can be emboldened by the fact that the rank and file of a newly politically active people in this rapidly evolving and diverse nation will ultimately bat last!