In The Guardian today, political speechwriter David Litt contends “Republicans will replace RBG but Democrats hold the trump cards – no, really.” He suggests several ways in which Democrats can, without violating the Constitution, assert themselves if Trump has his way with the current Supreme Court vacancy.
It would sound petty to speak of retaliation, getting even, or payback. Instead, Litt notes McConnell is playing constitutional hardball — and it’s a game Dems can also play, sooner or later:
Unless they never again win the House, Senate and White House simultaneously, the constitution gives Democrats plenty of ways to restore our democracy even without resorting to McConnellism or Trumpism. They can expand the electorate by restoring the Voting Rights Act, making voter registration universal, and passing comprehensive immigration reform. They can blunt (if not entirely offset) the GOP’s Senate advantage by granting statehood, and two senators apiece, to Puerto Rico and Washington DC. They can undo the effects of McConnell’s court-packing by expanding the bench – not just the supreme court, but lower courts as well.
It’s a good read and gives Dems something to cling to as the political skies darken.