Thanks so much for joining me. I’m glad you’re here.
I spent the week digging into what Republicans want to ram through before they lose power on January 3, and how far they’ve gotten with it. Thanks to what we accomplished together this election cycle, they’re losing on almost every front, and Trump can’t do a thing about it.
Before we get into it, could you tap the ❤️ like button and then the restack button right beside it? Restacking sends this edition out to everybody who follows you on Substack. Trump would love it if nobody knew that his voting bill has failed in the Senate five times. Let’s make sure everyone hears it.
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Sheldon Whitehouse Is About To Close The Door
On January 3, Democrats take over the Senate, because voters handed it to them. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island is next in line to chair the Judiciary Committee—the one every federal judge has to get through.
For two years, Trump’s used the committee to stack the courts with people who bow to him. Now he only has 50 days left to do it. So of course Republicans are cramming in every judge they can. On Tuesday, the committee sent four more Trump judges to the full Senate for a vote. And there are about two dozen still waiting.
One of them is Judge Daniel Domenico, who’s up for the appeals court in Denver. At his hearing on June 24, he was asked who won the popular vote in 2020. He said: “Commenting on a matter of political debate like that is inappropriate for a sitting judge.” Joe Biden won it by roughly 7 million votes—an indisputable fact. Domenico knows exactly who won, but he’s too scared of Trump to say it out loud. That alone should disqualify him.
One of Trump’s closest allies who supports his judicial nominees is conservative legal strategist Mike Davis. Last Saturday, in a piece for Fox News, Davis wrote: “The next two years will be bleak for judicial nominees.”
I couldn’t agree more. Once Whitehouse has the gavel, Trump’s rubber stamp is gone.
Senate Democrats Beat Trump’s Voting Bill Five Times
Trump’s tried to suppress votes across the country the entire time he’s been in office. Perhaps his worst cover for that is the SAVE America Act, legislation Senate Democrats have already beaten five times this year alone.
Under this bill you’d have to show proof of citizenship—like a passport or birth certificate—in order to register to vote. A study by the Center for American Progress found that up to 69 million women took their husband’s last name, so their birth certificate wouldn’t match their legal name.
In March, Trump said that if Republicans passed the bill, it would “guarantee the midterms.”
The House barely passed it in February by a vote of 218-213, but Senate Republicans couldn’t get it to 60 votes. On March 26, Republicans held a vote on just the photo ID requirement for voting. It fell short 53-47. They tried again in April and twice in June. Their last failed attempt was on August 8, at 4:36 in the morning—this time with only 52 voting in favor. No Democrat voted for it, any of the five times.
House Republicans got so desperate that they used the troops. Every year, Congress passes one big bill for the military, and this year’s has a 3.6% raise for our service members. In July, House Republicans slipped Trump’s voting rules into it. That’s how low Speaker Mike Johnson will go for Trump. It still needs 60 votes in the Senate—and that’s not going to happen.
Trump knew he couldn’t win the midterms, so he tried to change who gets to vote. Democrats never let him have it, and his party suffered a historic defeat. Senate Democrats have beaten his garbage SAVE Act five times, and if he tries again before January, they’re ready to make it six.
Trump’s Back Door Plan Still Can’t Find 50 Votes
Democrats kept blocking Trump’s voting rules, so Republicans went looking for a way to get them through without a single Democratic vote. There’s a back door in the Senate rules that allows it, and they want to use it for more money for Trump’s war in Iran too.
A budget bill can pass with just 50 votes—it’s the only way they can get a bill through without help from Democrats. So that’s what they turned it into. Even though Republicans have more than 50 senators, some of them haven’t gone along with it.
In July, House Republicans approved the plan by a vote of 216-214. It had $60 billion for the military and Trump’s war, plus $10 billion for the voting rules. Then it went to the Senate, where it’s been stuck ever since.
In October, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “It’s an option, but it takes 50 votes, which right now we don’t have, and maybe that changes after the election.” Doesn’t seem like Thune expected a complete wipeout.
This week, MAGA House members sent a letter to party leadership demanding it get done before Democrats take over. On Thursday, Trump asked for $350 billion for the military. Thune says by Thanksgiving they’ll decide on whether to even try.
Trump started a pointless war which became one of the countless reasons his party lost the election. Now he has 50 days to find 50 votes, and he keeps coming up short. Without those, his war money and his voting rules both go nowhere.
Voters Just Locked Trump Out Of The Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas is 78 and Justice Samuel Alito is 76. For months, Republicans talked about one of them retiring this year, so Trump could put somebody much younger in the seat while his party still ran the Senate. In July, Thune told Punchbowl News that confirming a new justice before January “can be done.”
It’s not happening. On October 6, Alito told Bloomberg Law: “I intend to stick around through this term”—which goes through June. Democrats take the Senate on January 3, and they’ll have at least 55 seats. By June, Trump’s majority will be long gone.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sits on the Judiciary Committee. He told NBC News this fall: “Given the history of Trump nominees, I think it is slim to none that we would support a nominee from this administration.”
On election night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted his own odds on X: “Chance of confirming a worthy successor to Justice Thomas and/or Alito during President Trump’s term: Zero.” He added that under a Republican president from 2029 to 2033, it’s “probably zero.” That’s a Republican governor admitting Trump is finished at the Supreme Court.
Trump put three justices on the Supreme Court in his first term, and all three voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Because of those three seats, women lost a right they’d had for almost 50 years. Trump wanted a fourth. But starting January 3, he can’t get one without Democrats, and that’s thanks to everyone who voted.
Republicans will still try and use all of their days left to abuse their power, but we will be tracking all of their schemes—through the entire holiday season. That is our Lame Duck Watch, which is the coalition we put together to fight Trump and the GOP as they try and jam through what they can before they lose control for years.
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However you pitched in this year, thank you. I’m proud to be in this with you. Be sure to hit the like and restack buttons before you go.
Onward!
Scott
Two years ago, did you think we’d be here?
What are you most proud of from this election?
New campaign today! Trump’s White House lawyer warned Congress that investigating Trump “may cross the line into blatant criminality.” Our answer is four letters. Each takes 30 seconds and goes straight to your members of Congress.
NEW: Don’t back down, issue the subpoenas (first goal: 1,000): https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-dont-back-down-issue-the-subpoenas/
Impeach Clarence Thomas (305 from 3,000): https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-clarence-thomas-3/
Put Trump’s pardons under oath (7 from 1,500): https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-put-trumps-pardons-under-oath
Subpoena the Epstein files on day one (going for 2,000): https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-the-new-congress-subpoena-the-unredacted-epstein-files-on-day-one
Tell me below which ones you sent.
DeSantis posting “zero” on election night is the quote that should be everywhere. Even he knows the Supreme Court window closed.