1
00:00:15,348 --> 00:00:16,998
[Rush Lindell] You know what nobody wants to say?

2
00:00:17,347 --> 00:00:22,397
[Rush Lindell] June at the Supreme Court is more consequential than any session of Congress this decade.

3
00:00:22,647 --> 00:00:23,597
[Rush Lindell] The 14th Amendment,

4
00:00:23,898 --> 00:00:24,648
[Rush Lindell] the Second Amendment,

5
00:00:24,998 --> 00:00:25,548
[Rush Lindell] Title IX,

6
00:00:25,848 --> 00:00:27,148
[Rush Lindell] presidential firing power,

7
00:00:27,448 --> 00:00:29,548
[Rush Lindell] all of it dropping before summer recess.

8
00:00:30,148 --> 00:00:33,248
[Reagan] CBS News has been tracking the term's remaining cases,

9
00:00:33,548 --> 00:00:35,448
[Reagan] and the scope is genuinely striking:

10
00:00:35,948 --> 00:00:36,948
[Reagan] birthright citizenship,

11
00:00:37,348 --> 00:00:38,848
[Reagan] transgender athlete bans,

12
00:00:39,248 --> 00:00:40,648
[Reagan] gun rights for drug users,

13
00:00:41,097 --> 00:00:42,747
[Reagan] the independence of federal agencies.

14
00:00:43,551 --> 00:00:44,952
[Rush Lindell] Twenty-three cases,

15
00:00:45,301 --> 00:00:49,051
[Rush Lindell] all of it due before these nine people pack up and go on vacation.

16
00:00:49,602 --> 00:00:52,502
[Reagan] And the term was already a blockbuster before today:

17
00:00:52,902 --> 00:00:54,852
[Reagan] the court struck down Trump's tariffs,

18
00:00:55,152 --> 00:00:56,552
[Reagan] weakened the Voting Rights Act.

19
00:00:56,752 --> 00:00:57,552
[Reagan] This is the encore.

20
00:00:58,152 --> 00:00:59,552
[Rush Lindell] And here's what gets me:

21
00:00:59,852 --> 00:01:05,302
[Rush Lindell] the rulings still on the table aren't procedural housekeeping; they're the ones that reshape the country.

22
00:01:05,701 --> 00:01:08,102
[Rush Lindell] Trump versus Barbara on birthright citizenship.

23
00:01:08,501 --> 00:01:09,402
[Rush Lindell] The trans athlete.

24
00:01:09,268 --> 00:01:11,317
[Rush Lindell] Fleet bands out of West Virginia and Idaho.

25
00:01:11,668 --> 00:01:17,117
[Rush Lindell] A Second Amendment case the NRA and the ACLU somehow ended up on the same side of.

26
00:01:17,317 --> 00:01:19,617
[Reagan] That last one deserves more than a sentence.

27
00:01:20,367 --> 00:01:20,668
[Rush Lindell] Oh,

28
00:01:20,867 --> 00:01:22,367
[Rush Lindell] it's getting a whole segment,

29
00:01:22,567 --> 00:01:23,018
[Rush Lindell] trust me.

30
00:01:23,268 --> 00:01:25,168
[Reagan] And on the executive power side,

31
00:01:25,317 --> 00:01:25,617
[Reagan] Trump v.

32
00:01:25,817 --> 00:01:32,817
[Reagan] Slaughter goes after a 1935 precedent that's protected independent agency heads from getting fired by the president.

33
00:01:33,117 --> 00:01:34,418
[Reagan] If the court guts it,

34
00:01:34,567 --> 00:01:35,717
[Reagan] that touches the FTC,

35
00:01:36,117 --> 00:01:36,967
[Reagan] the NLRB,

36
00:01:37,167 --> 00:01:37,617
[Reagan] the FCC.

37
00:01:38,099 --> 00:01:39,750
[Rush Lindell] And possibly the Fed,

38
00:01:40,049 --> 00:01:42,250
[Rush Lindell] which is where it gets genuinely interesting.

39
00:01:42,699 --> 00:01:44,299
[Reagan] That's the fault line we'll walk through.

40
00:01:44,849 --> 00:01:45,250
[Rush Lindell] Plus,

41
00:01:45,399 --> 00:01:47,099
[Rush Lindell] and I'm not going to oversell this,

42
00:01:47,250 --> 00:01:53,699
[Rush Lindell] we close with a mock nickname draft for all nine justices based on their oral argument performances this term.

43
00:01:54,049 --> 00:01:55,250
[Reagan] You'll oversell it.

44
00:01:56,250 --> 00:01:56,799
[Rush Lindell] Probably.

45
00:01:57,250 --> 00:01:57,899
[Rush Lindell] First up,

46
00:01:58,099 --> 00:02:03,049
[Rush Lindell] the Fourteenth Amendment and what a hundred and twenty eight years of precedent may or may not survive.

47
00:02:08,627 --> 00:02:11,027
[Rush Lindell] Before we dive in, a quick reminder.

48
00:02:11,127 --> 00:02:15,377
[Rush Lindell] We love hearing from you. If you have questions or topics you'd like us to cover,

49
00:02:15,727 --> 00:02:18,477
[Rush Lindell] head to the link in the description and submit your question.

50
00:02:18,577 --> 00:02:20,627
[Rush Lindell] We read every single one.

51
00:02:25,972 --> 00:02:26,722
[Rush Lindell] All right,

52
00:02:26,972 --> 00:02:28,722
[Rush Lindell] here's what's going on right now,

53
00:02:28,772 --> 00:02:30,472
[Rush Lindell] and I want you to listen closely.

54
00:02:32,122 --> 00:02:33,472
[Rush Lindell] Twenty-three cases,

55
00:02:33,822 --> 00:02:38,622
[Rush Lindell] that's what's sitting on the Supreme Court's docket before these justices pack up for the summer.

56
00:02:39,122 --> 00:02:40,171
[Rush Lindell] Twenty-three,

57
00:02:40,472 --> 00:02:44,772
[Rush Lindell] and they've got to get through all of them by late June, maybe early July.

58
00:02:45,395 --> 00:02:47,095
[Reagan] And these aren't routine cases.

59
00:02:47,695 --> 00:02:49,245
[Reagan] CBS News ran through the list.

60
00:02:49,745 --> 00:02:50,545
[Reagan] Birthright citizenship,

61
00:02:50,995 --> 00:02:52,445
[Reagan] transgender athlete bans,

62
00:02:52,695 --> 00:02:53,295
[Reagan] gun rights,

63
00:02:53,545 --> 00:02:54,895
[Reagan] presidential firing power.

64
00:02:55,295 --> 00:02:56,195
[Reagan] The 14th Amendment,

65
00:02:56,395 --> 00:02:57,345
[Reagan] the Second Amendment,

66
00:02:57,645 --> 00:02:58,195
[Reagan] Title IX,

67
00:02:58,445 --> 00:02:59,595
[Reagan] all in the same month.

68
00:02:59,995 --> 00:03:01,795
[Rush Lindell] Just a light docket,

69
00:03:01,995 --> 00:03:02,995
[Rush Lindell] nothing major.

70
00:03:03,395 --> 00:03:09,295
[Rush Lindell] NPR confirmed 23 cases left out of 58 argued this term.

71
00:03:09,495 --> 00:03:11,895
[Rush Lindell] The court already took down Trump's tariffs.

72
00:03:12,051 --> 00:03:14,501
[Rush Lindell] already weakened the Voting Rights Act,

73
00:03:14,852 --> 00:03:16,001
[Rush Lindell] and they're not done.

74
00:03:16,352 --> 00:03:21,051
[Reagan] That's the part people aren't fully tracking — the blockbusters that already landed,

75
00:03:21,301 --> 00:03:22,251
[Reagan] those are the warm-up.

76
00:03:22,551 --> 00:03:24,551
[Rush Lindell] Right — and here's what gets me.

77
00:03:24,852 --> 00:03:27,801
[Rush Lindell] This isn't a normal end-of-term sprint.

78
00:03:28,352 --> 00:03:31,852
[Rush Lindell] Every major case left has Trump's fingerprints on it.

79
00:03:32,201 --> 00:03:32,602
[Rush Lindell] Every.

80
00:03:32,701 --> 00:03:33,301
[Rush Lindell] Single.

81
00:03:33,502 --> 00:03:33,752
[Rush Lindell] One.

82
00:03:33,752 --> 00:03:34,102
[Reagan] Mm-hmm.

83
00:03:34,102 --> 00:03:37,151
[Rush Lindell] You've got the president's ability to fire Fed governors.

84
00:03:37,352 --> 00:03:39,701
[Rush Lindell] You've got his executive order rewriting...

85
00:03:39,508 --> 00:03:40,758
[Rush Lindell] Hitting birthright citizenship,

86
00:03:41,108 --> 00:03:45,558
[Rush Lindell] you've got state trans-athlete bans his administration is backing.

87
00:03:45,957 --> 00:03:53,558
[Reagan] U.S. news pointed out several of these decisions could upend election processes heading into the midterms, so the stakes aren't just constitutional,

88
00:03:53,758 --> 00:03:54,508
[Reagan] they're immediate.

89
00:03:54,958 --> 00:03:57,708
[Rush Lindell] And whatever comes down stays down.

90
00:03:57,808 --> 00:03:59,958
[Rush Lindell] That's the thing about Supreme Court rulings.

91
00:04:00,258 --> 00:04:01,508
[Rush Lindell] There's no press conference,

92
00:04:01,708 --> 00:04:02,708
[Rush Lindell] no walk back,

93
00:04:02,808 --> 00:04:02,958
[Rush Lindell] no,

94
00:04:03,008 --> 00:04:05,158
[Rush Lindell] the president didn't mean it that way.

95
00:04:05,158 --> 00:04:05,408
[Reagan] Right.

96
00:04:05,408 --> 00:04:07,658
[Rush Lindell] Five votes and it's settled law.

97
00:04:08,147 --> 00:04:15,997
[Reagan] Which is why conservatives either bank a generational win in the next few weeks or they watch this court punt on the things that matter most.

98
00:04:16,398 --> 00:04:16,697
[Rush Lindell] Yeah,

99
00:04:16,848 --> 00:04:18,598
[Rush Lindell] and punting has consequences,

100
00:04:18,848 --> 00:04:19,048
[Rush Lindell] too.

101
00:04:19,447 --> 00:04:23,447
[Rush Lindell] The culture war conversation heading into summer gets rewritten either way.

102
00:04:23,997 --> 00:04:24,997
[Reagan] Either way,

103
00:04:25,148 --> 00:04:26,197
[Reagan] the country gets an answer.

104
00:04:26,648 --> 00:04:34,598
[Rush Lindell] So here's the question I want you sitting with when the Court takes up a century old understanding of who gets to be an American.

105
00:04:34,420 --> 00:04:38,370
[Rush Lindell] American, how far are five justices willing to go?

106
00:04:43,764 --> 00:04:44,564
[Rush Lindell] All right.

107
00:04:44,614 --> 00:04:46,163
[Rush Lindell] Birthright citizenship.

108
00:04:46,713 --> 00:04:49,114
[Rush Lindell] Executive Order 14160,

109
00:04:49,364 --> 00:04:51,514
[Rush Lindell] Day 1 of Trump's second term.

110
00:04:51,663 --> 00:04:59,913
[Rush Lindell] The order says children born here to parents who were in the country illegally or on temporary visas no longer get automatic citizenship.

111
00:05:00,314 --> 00:05:04,014
[Rush Lindell] Every court that's seen it has blocked it. Every single one.

112
00:05:04,435 --> 00:05:07,635
[Speaker 3] And the Library of Congress analysis makes clear why:

113
00:05:08,085 --> 00:05:11,786
[Speaker 3] the government is fighting a one hundred twenty eight year old Supreme Court precedent,

114
00:05:12,235 --> 00:05:13,036
[Speaker 3] United States v.

115
00:05:13,185 --> 00:05:19,135
[Speaker 3] Wong Kim Ark (eighteen ninety eight), born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who couldn't naturalize.

116
00:05:19,536 --> 00:05:20,935
[Speaker 3] Court said he was a citizen,

117
00:05:21,185 --> 00:05:21,735
[Speaker 3] full stop.

118
00:05:22,163 --> 00:05:26,514
[Rush Lindell] That case is the wall; and you know what nobody wants to say out loud:

119
00:05:26,863 --> 00:05:34,663
[Rush Lindell] the government has to convince five justices to read Wong Kim Ark differently than nearly every court has for over a century.

120
00:05:34,913 --> 00:05:35,963
[Rush Lindell] That's the ask.

121
00:05:36,403 --> 00:05:40,803
[Speaker 3] The hinge is "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

122
00:05:41,204 --> 00:05:46,603
[Speaker 3] The Government's argument is that parental immigration status determines whether a child falls under that phrase.

123
00:05:47,004 --> 00:05:47,754
[Speaker 3] It's a narrow,

124
00:05:47,903 --> 00:05:48,803
[Speaker 3] originalist reading,

125
00:05:49,004 --> 00:05:51,653
[Speaker 3] but the oral argument signals did not go their way.

126
00:05:52,403 --> 00:05:56,903
[Rush Lindell] Trump flew up and sat in that court room on April first for over an hour.

127
00:05:56,903 --> 00:05:57,103
[Speaker 3] Wow!

128
00:05:57,103 --> 00:05:58,204
[Rush Lindell] April Fool's Day!

129
00:05:58,403 --> 00:06:00,903
[Rush Lindell] I'm not editorializing—that's just the date.

130
00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:03,250
[Speaker 3] The skepticism from the justices,

131
00:06:03,350 --> 00:06:04,850
[Speaker 3] including Trump appointees,

132
00:06:04,949 --> 00:06:06,199
[Speaker 3] was pretty hard to miss.

133
00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,449
[Speaker 3] A ruling is expected by late June or early July.

134
00:06:10,300 --> 00:06:11,100
[Rush Lindell] Here's my read:

135
00:06:11,300 --> 00:06:13,100
[Rush Lindell] If the court upholds this order,

136
00:06:13,250 --> 00:06:15,300
[Rush Lindell] even on narrow statutory grounds,

137
00:06:15,449 --> 00:06:18,000
[Rush Lindell] it's the biggest immigration ruling in a century.

138
00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:20,600
[Rush Lindell] Two hundred fifty thousand U.S.-born children a year are affected by this question.

139
00:06:20,700 --> 00:06:23,300
[Rush Lindell] Now,

140
00:06:23,699 --> 00:06:24,199
[Speaker 3] 

141
00:06:24,349 --> 00:06:25,649
[Speaker 3] here's where I push back,

142
00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:27,250
[Speaker 3] not on the policy debate,

143
00:06:27,399 --> 00:06:28,349
[Speaker 3] but on the mechanism:

144
00:06:28,949 --> 00:06:37,399
[Speaker 3] an executive order rewriting a constitutional clause is a significant ask; if Congress wants to define subject to the jurisdiction differently,

145
00:06:37,899 --> 00:06:39,000
[Speaker 3] that's a legitimate fight,

146
00:06:39,250 --> 00:06:44,599
[Speaker 3] but five justices doing it through an EO feels like a shortcut that creates its own problems.

147
00:06:45,399 --> 00:06:47,599
[Rush Lindell] I hear that; the legal path is messy,

148
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,300
[Rush Lindell] and the ruling hasn't dropped yet.

149
00:06:49,399 --> 00:06:49,849
[Rush Lindell] We're waiting.

150
00:06:49,716 --> 00:06:53,865
[Rush Lindell] But the Fourteenth Amendment is the thread running through this whole term.

151
00:06:54,266 --> 00:06:55,615
[Rush Lindell] Citizenship clause here,

152
00:06:55,915 --> 00:06:57,665
[Rush Lindell] Equal Protection clause next,

153
00:06:57,915 --> 00:07:00,016
[Rush Lindell] because the trans athlete cases rest

154
00:07:00,016 --> 00:07:01,016
[Speaker 4] on it.

155
00:07:00,101 --> 00:07:01,151
[Rush Lindell] Just on that same amendment.

156
00:07:06,987 --> 00:07:07,837
[Rush Lindell] Same amendment,

157
00:07:08,187 --> 00:07:09,287
[Rush Lindell] different battle ground.

158
00:07:09,537 --> 00:07:10,587
[Rush Lindell] These two cases,

159
00:07:10,837 --> 00:07:14,687
[Rush Lindell] West Virginia vs. BPJ and Little vs. Hecox,

160
00:07:14,787 --> 00:07:16,787
[Rush Lindell] hit the court January thirteenth,

161
00:07:17,287 --> 00:07:18,837
[Rush Lindell] trans athlete bans,

162
00:07:19,187 --> 00:07:23,487
[Rush Lindell] and SCOTUSblog reported the conservative majority looked ready to uphold them.

163
00:07:23,887 --> 00:07:25,637
[Reagan] That reading is pretty well supported.

164
00:07:26,037 --> 00:07:29,337
[Reagan] The question at oral arguments wasn't really whether the bans survive,

165
00:07:29,737 --> 00:07:31,987
[Reagan] it's how broadly the court writes the ruling.

166
00:07:32,537 --> 00:07:35,237
[Rush Lindell] And that is where I want my victory lap,

167
00:07:35,387 --> 00:07:35,537
[Rush Lindell] Reagan.

168
00:07:35,641 --> 00:07:38,491
[Rush Lindell] Nearly 30 states have these laws on the books.

169
00:07:38,741 --> 00:07:41,641
[Rush Lindell] A clean ruling validates all of them at once.

170
00:07:41,891 --> 00:07:49,991
[Reagan] Okay, hold on, because the Idaho case has a wrinkle worth flagging. Lindsey Hecox's actually tried to voluntarily dismiss her case.

171
00:07:50,391 --> 00:07:51,891
[Reagan] The district court said no,

172
00:07:51,991 --> 00:07:54,391
[Reagan] but that mootness question doesn't just disappear.

173
00:07:54,891 --> 00:07:57,991
[Rush Lindell] So the court might sidestep Idaho entirely?

174
00:07:58,741 --> 00:08:02,641
[Reagan] Possibly. West Virginia may be the only ruling we actually get.

175
00:08:02,585 --> 00:08:05,985
[Reagan] Yet which matters because the two laws are written differently.

176
00:08:06,485 --> 00:08:09,485
[Rush Lindell] They couldn't just let us have the clean sweep.

177
00:08:09,985 --> 00:08:10,485
[Reagan] Rush.

178
00:08:10,885 --> 00:08:11,485
[Rush Lindell] I know,

179
00:08:11,635 --> 00:08:12,035
[Rush Lindell] I know,

180
00:08:12,185 --> 00:08:14,085
[Rush Lindell] the law is complicated-fine.

181
00:08:14,535 --> 00:08:17,885
[Reagan] But here's what conservatives should actually want precision on:

182
00:08:18,335 --> 00:08:21,485
[Reagan] both cases hinge on equal protection under the Fourteenth,

183
00:08:21,885 --> 00:08:24,885
[Reagan] the same clause we just finished unpacking on birthright,

184
00:08:25,285 --> 00:08:28,335
[Reagan] a sweeping ruling that defines sex categorically.

185
00:08:28,313 --> 00:08:31,513
[Reagan] could generate precedent that travels well beyond athletics.

186
00:08:32,063 --> 00:08:34,213
[Rush Lindell] You're saying win the battle,

187
00:08:34,513 --> 00:08:35,163
[Rush Lindell] lose the

188
00:08:35,763 --> 00:08:37,513
[Reagan] The broader equal protection war,

189
00:08:37,613 --> 00:08:38,013
[Reagan] potentially,

190
00:08:38,313 --> 00:08:38,613
[Reagan] yes.

191
00:08:39,113 --> 00:08:46,063
[Reagan] The justices who seemed skeptical of a sweeping decision weren't all on the left; even Gorsuch questioned where the line is.

192
00:08:46,413 --> 00:08:47,113
[Rush Lindell] Gorsuch?

193
00:08:47,613 --> 00:08:48,013
[Reagan] Right.

194
00:08:48,463 --> 00:08:49,813
[Reagan] CBS News flagged this,

195
00:08:49,963 --> 00:08:50,163
[Reagan] too.

196
00:08:50,413 --> 00:08:53,213
[Reagan] The term isn't just about one culture war headline,

197
00:08:53,663 --> 00:08:56,913
[Reagan] the structural implications of how the court writes this opinion

198
00:08:56,985 --> 00:08:58,785
[Reagan] And matter as much as the outcome.

199
00:08:59,285 --> 00:09:01,085
[Rush Lindell] So Reagan says win,

200
00:09:01,335 --> 00:09:02,535
[Rush Lindell] but read the fine print.

201
00:09:03,085 --> 00:09:06,735
[Reagan] I'd take the W. I just want to understand what we actually won.

202
00:09:07,235 --> 00:09:07,985
[Rush Lindell] Fair enough,

203
00:09:08,185 --> 00:09:11,235
[Rush Lindell] and speaking of coalitions that make zero sense,

204
00:09:11,635 --> 00:09:14,735
[Rush Lindell] wait until you hear who's on the same side in the next case,

205
00:09:15,135 --> 00:09:16,035
[Rush Lindell] the NRA,

206
00:09:16,335 --> 00:09:17,585
[Rush Lindell] the ACLU,

207
00:09:17,935 --> 00:09:18,335
[Rush Lindell] together.

208
00:09:18,485 --> 00:09:20,135
[Rush Lindell] I am not making that up.

209
00:09:25,569 --> 00:09:26,019
[Rush Lindell] Okay,

210
00:09:26,269 --> 00:09:26,669
[Rush Lindell] weed,

211
00:09:26,969 --> 00:09:27,469
[Rush Lindell] guns,

212
00:09:27,719 --> 00:09:30,369
[Rush Lindell] and the most unlikely coalition in Washington

213
00:09:31,429 --> 00:09:33,729
[Reagan] I genuinely love this one.

214
00:09:34,079 --> 00:09:35,479
[Rush Lindell] So here's the setup.

215
00:09:35,829 --> 00:09:36,929
[Rush Lindell] A Texas man,

216
00:09:37,229 --> 00:09:38,229
[Rush Lindell] Ali Hemani,

217
00:09:38,629 --> 00:09:40,029
[Rush Lindell] FBI searches his home.

218
00:09:40,229 --> 00:09:41,579
[Rush Lindell] They find a Glock 19,

219
00:09:42,179 --> 00:09:44,029
[Rush Lindell] roughly 60 grams of marijuana,

220
00:09:44,379 --> 00:09:45,429
[Rush Lindell] and some cocaine.

221
00:09:45,429 --> 00:09:45,679
[Reagan] Wow.

222
00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,229
[Rush Lindell] Federal law says drug users can't own guns.

223
00:09:49,529 --> 00:09:50,529
[Rush Lindell] Felony charge.

224
00:09:50,629 --> 00:09:53,479
[Rush Lindell] The Fifth Circuit throws the whole thing out.

225
00:09:53,829 --> 00:09:54,879
[Rush Lindell] Unconstitutional.

226
00:09:55,279 --> 00:09:56,279
[Reagan] And that law,

227
00:09:56,479 --> 00:09:58,729
[Reagan] 18 U.S.C. 922(g).

228
00:09:58,713 --> 00:10:02,363
[Reagan] (g) is the same statute that got Hunter Biden convicted.

229
00:10:02,713 --> 00:10:04,963
[Rush Lindell] Same exact law.

230
00:10:05,163 --> 00:10:08,613
[Rush Lindell] And you know who's now defending it before the Supreme Court?

231
00:10:08,863 --> 00:10:10,413
[Rush Lindell] The Trump DOJ.

232
00:10:10,563 --> 00:10:12,413
[Rush Lindell] You cannot make this up.

233
00:10:13,263 --> 00:10:13,813
[Reagan] Seriously.

234
00:10:14,563 --> 00:10:16,913
[Rush Lindell] The NRA hates this law.

235
00:10:17,013 --> 00:10:19,563
[Rush Lindell] The ACLU hates this law.

236
00:10:19,663 --> 00:10:23,913
[Rush Lindell] And the Trump administration is standing up there arguing to keep it.

237
00:10:24,063 --> 00:10:27,313
[Reagan] To be fair, the Second Amendment principle here is real.

238
00:10:27,289 --> 00:10:27,489
[Reagan] Still,

239
00:10:27,689 --> 00:10:28,639
[Reagan] separate from the comedy,

240
00:10:29,139 --> 00:10:35,239
[Reagan] the ACLU's argument is that unlawful user is so vague it invites discriminatory enforcement,

241
00:10:35,639 --> 00:10:36,889
[Reagan] and they're right about that.

242
00:10:37,339 --> 00:10:37,989
[Rush Lindell] Oh, I agree,

243
00:10:38,139 --> 00:10:45,239
[Rush Lindell] the principle is solid; I just enjoy the image of the NRA and ACLU filing briefs on the same side.

244
00:10:45,339 --> 00:10:46,339
[Rush Lindell] That doesn't happen.

245
00:10:46,789 --> 00:10:48,639
[Reagan] According to reporting from the Trace,

246
00:10:48,839 --> 00:10:54,989
[Reagan] several justices at oral arguments in March seemed skeptical the ban even clears constitutional review.

247
00:10:55,001 --> 00:10:57,251
[Reagan] you, especially for marijuana users.

248
00:10:57,601 --> 00:11:00,701
[Rush Lindell] So the court appears ready to side with Hemani,

249
00:11:01,051 --> 00:11:02,651
[Rush Lindell] maybe on narrow grounds.

250
00:11:02,851 --> 00:11:05,201
[Rush Lindell] Maybe they rule he wasn't proven dangerous.

251
00:11:05,451 --> 00:11:08,301
[Rush Lindell] But the bigger question is how far they go.

252
00:11:08,751 --> 00:11:11,051
[Reagan] Right, because if they strike it down broadly,

253
00:11:11,401 --> 00:11:18,051
[Reagan] you're talking about millions of Americans in legal weed states who currently can't own firearms under federal law.

254
00:11:18,551 --> 00:11:22,051
[Rush Lindell] And here's the kicker. Hunter Biden was pardoned before...

255
00:11:21,977 --> 00:11:30,477
[Rush Lindell] For any of this mattered for him; so he skated; the guy who started the conversation walks free and the court might fix the law anyway.

256
00:11:31,077 --> 00:11:34,777
[Reagan] The legal system doing its job just slower than the pardon.

257
00:11:35,477 --> 00:11:36,677
[Rush Lindell] Much slower.

258
00:11:37,027 --> 00:11:37,577
[Rush Lindell] All right,

259
00:11:37,827 --> 00:11:42,677
[Rush Lindell] from one man's Glock to the President's power over an entire bureaucracy,

260
00:11:43,227 --> 00:11:45,077
[Rush Lindell] that's a different kind of firepower.

261
00:11:50,425 --> 00:11:51,625
[Speaker 3] Now from there,

262
00:11:51,925 --> 00:11:54,275
[Speaker 3] presidential power over the bureaucracy.

263
00:11:54,625 --> 00:12:00,425
[Speaker 3] This one doesn't get the headlines, but it might be the most consequential ruling of the entire term.

264
00:12:00,825 --> 00:12:02,725
[Reagan] I'd argue it absolutely is.

265
00:12:02,825 --> 00:12:05,425
[Reagan] So the case is Trump versus Slaughter.

266
00:12:05,675 --> 00:12:09,175
[Reagan] Trump fired FTC Commissioner Rebecca Humphreys,

267
00:12:09,225 --> 00:12:10,325
[Reagan] no cause given,

268
00:12:10,425 --> 00:12:11,525
[Reagan] and she sued.

269
00:12:11,575 --> 00:12:16,525
[Reagan] The statute says you can only remove an FTC commissioner for inefficiency,

270
00:12:16,875 --> 00:12:17,175
[Reagan] neglect,

271
00:12:16,985 --> 00:12:17,785
[Reagan] neglect of duty,

272
00:12:17,935 --> 00:12:18,885
[Reagan] or malfeasance,

273
00:12:19,085 --> 00:12:22,235
[Reagan] that protection has been law since nineteen thirty five.

274
00:12:22,535 --> 00:12:25,885
[Speaker 3] Humphrey's Executor, ninety one years old!

275
00:12:26,235 --> 00:12:27,435
[Reagan] Ninety one years,

276
00:12:27,585 --> 00:12:30,585
[Reagan] and the court is now being asked to overrule it outright.

277
00:12:30,935 --> 00:12:31,985
[Reagan] If it does,

278
00:12:32,135 --> 00:12:35,435
[Reagan] the president gains at-will removal power over the FTC,

279
00:12:35,785 --> 00:12:36,485
[Reagan] the NLRB,

280
00:12:36,635 --> 00:12:37,235
[Reagan] the FCC,

281
00:12:37,835 --> 00:12:41,785
[Reagan] the alphabet soup of agencies that have operated independently since the New Deal.

282
00:12:42,235 --> 00:12:45,035
[Speaker 3] Agencies that answer to nobody elected.

283
00:12:45,017 --> 00:12:46,917
[Speaker 3] Nobody voted for the FTC.

284
00:12:47,117 --> 00:12:50,517
[Speaker 3] Nobody chose these commissioners. That's exactly the problem.

285
00:12:50,917 --> 00:12:52,967
[Reagan] Now, here's where I push back slightly.

286
00:12:53,317 --> 00:12:55,467
[Reagan] The independence was the point.

287
00:12:55,867 --> 00:13:01,567
[Reagan] Congress designed it that way deliberately to insulate regulatory decisions from election cycle politics.

288
00:13:02,067 --> 00:13:02,517
[Speaker 3] Sure,

289
00:13:02,767 --> 00:13:04,767
[Speaker 3] and Franklin Roosevelt didn't like it either.

290
00:13:05,067 --> 00:13:07,667
[Speaker 3] The 1935 court slapped him down.

291
00:13:07,767 --> 00:13:08,917
[Speaker 3] But Roberts,

292
00:13:09,267 --> 00:13:10,717
[Speaker 3] Roberts at oral argument.

293
00:13:10,873 --> 00:13:17,273
[Speaker 3] Called Humphrey's Executor, a dry husk of whatever people used to think it was. That's the Chief Justice.

294
00:13:17,523 --> 00:13:19,573
[Reagan] Yeah, that's not subtle signaling.

295
00:13:19,573 --> 00:13:19,723
[Speaker 3] Right.

296
00:13:19,723 --> 00:13:23,273
[Reagan] The court signaled in Slaughter it's likely going Trump's way.

297
00:13:23,473 --> 00:13:25,323
[Reagan] Then comes the harder case,

298
00:13:25,523 --> 00:13:25,973
[Reagan] Trump v.

299
00:13:26,273 --> 00:13:26,723
[Reagan] Cook.

300
00:13:26,873 --> 00:13:28,623
[Speaker 3] The Fed Reserve angle.

301
00:13:28,873 --> 00:13:29,873
[Reagan] Lisa Cook,

302
00:13:29,923 --> 00:13:30,523
[Reagan] Fed governor,

303
00:13:30,873 --> 00:13:33,573
[Reagan] Trump fired her over mortgage fraud allegations,

304
00:13:33,673 --> 00:13:35,373
[Reagan] by the way, via Truth Social,

305
00:13:35,523 --> 00:13:36,773
[Reagan] and the court went cold.

306
00:13:36,633 --> 00:13:37,183
[Reagan] And cold.

307
00:13:37,633 --> 00:13:44,133
[Reagan] Conservative justices who were ready to torch Humphreys and slaughter suddenly got very cautious when the Fed was on the table.

308
00:13:44,433 --> 00:13:46,233
[Speaker 3] Because the Fed is different.

309
00:13:46,533 --> 00:13:50,583
[Speaker 3] The court has already signaled it sees the Fed as uniquely structured.

310
00:13:50,983 --> 00:13:52,233
[Speaker 3] You break Fed independence,

311
00:13:52,583 --> 00:13:54,133
[Speaker 3] markets don't wait for an appeal.

312
00:13:54,483 --> 00:13:55,133
[Reagan] Exactly.

313
00:13:55,633 --> 00:13:57,533
[Reagan] So the court may split the ruling.

314
00:13:57,833 --> 00:14:00,083
[Reagan] Gut Humphreys for the FTC and the NLRB.

315
00:14:00,202 --> 00:14:02,302
[Rush Lindell] I'll be-but carve out the Fed.

316
00:14:02,702 --> 00:14:10,502
[Reagan] Which means we could get one ruling that reshapes eighty years of administrative law and leaves the most consequential question half answered.

317
00:14:10,952 --> 00:14:13,052
[Rush Lindell] The most consequential case of the term,

318
00:14:13,452 --> 00:14:16,152
[Rush Lindell] and half the country has never heard either name in it?

319
00:14:16,502 --> 00:14:18,102
[Reagan] And speaking of names,

320
00:14:18,352 --> 00:14:22,252
[Reagan] we've got nine justices who've been asking questions all term long.

321
00:14:22,552 --> 00:14:23,852
[Reagan] I've been taking notes.

322
00:14:24,202 --> 00:14:25,502
[Reagan] I have thoughts.

323
00:14:26,002 --> 00:14:26,402
[Rush Lindell] Oh no

324
00:14:26,686 --> 00:14:28,086
[Reagan] Oh, yes,

325
00:14:28,436 --> 00:14:30,136
[Reagan] we'll get into those next.

326
00:14:35,796 --> 00:14:39,446
[Reagan] All right-I've been taking notes all term,

327
00:14:39,946 --> 00:14:40,896
[Reagan] nine justices,

328
00:14:41,196 --> 00:14:42,096
[Reagan] every argument,

329
00:14:42,546 --> 00:14:44,746
[Reagan] and I've got nicknames for all of them.

330
00:14:45,146 --> 00:14:46,446
[Rush Lindell] This is going to go well.

331
00:14:47,596 --> 00:14:48,096
[Reagan] All right,

332
00:14:48,446 --> 00:14:54,446
[Reagan] Roberts first-Chief Justice John Roberts-I'm calling him Serenity now,

333
00:14:54,846 --> 00:15:00,646
[Reagan] because he makes that face every time a colleague goes three minutes over on a question nobody asked.

334
00:15:01,046 --> 00:15:03,796
[Rush Lindell] So does SCOTUSblog actually described that face.

335
00:15:03,896 --> 00:15:04,446
[Rush Lindell] That's real.

336
00:15:04,902 --> 00:15:06,102
[Reagan] It's documented.

337
00:15:06,652 --> 00:15:07,002
[Reagan] Next,

338
00:15:07,302 --> 00:15:13,202
[Reagan] Clarence Thomas barely speaks during argument-maybe seven thousand words all term,

339
00:15:13,452 --> 00:15:17,102
[Reagan] seven thousand-I'm calling him Silent but Deadly.

340
00:15:17,702 --> 00:15:18,252
[Rush Lindell] Mmm,

341
00:15:18,652 --> 00:15:19,002
[Rush Lindell] accurate.

342
00:15:19,646 --> 00:15:20,446
[Reagan] Gorsuch:

343
00:15:20,646 --> 00:15:25,896
[Reagan] He raised his voice at a veteran appellate attorney this term for mischaracterizing the other side:

344
00:15:26,046 --> 00:15:28,596
[Reagan] "I'm calling him 'the Referee.'

345
00:15:28,896 --> 00:15:30,396
[Rush Lindell] He does have that energy.

346
00:15:30,946 --> 00:15:31,746
[Reagan] Kavanaugh:

347
00:15:31,996 --> 00:15:32,596
[Reagan] chatty,

348
00:15:32,796 --> 00:15:33,196
[Reagan] friendly,

349
00:15:33,396 --> 00:15:34,846
[Reagan] always checking on the lawyers.

350
00:15:35,146 --> 00:15:35,896
[Reagan] Flight Attendant:

351
00:15:36,396 --> 00:15:37,796
[Reagan] Is there anything else I can get you?

352
00:15:38,246 --> 00:15:39,246
[Rush Lindell] Stop!

353
00:15:40,046 --> 00:15:40,696
[Reagan] Barrett:

354
00:15:40,946 --> 00:15:41,396
[Reagan] Sharp,

355
00:15:41,596 --> 00:15:41,946
[Reagan] fast,

356
00:15:41,996 --> 00:15:44,746
[Reagan] does not wait for you to finish The Guillotine.

357
00:15:45,396 --> 00:15:46,596
[Rush Lindell] That one I'll allow.

358
00:15:47,070 --> 00:15:49,770
[Reagan] Now the liberal side—Sotomayor,

359
00:15:49,970 --> 00:15:56,770
[Reagan] Kagan and Jackson—the three of them spend oral argument trying to minimize losses—they're not winning cases this term,

360
00:15:57,020 --> 00:16:00,520
[Reagan] they're negotiating the size of the defeat—I'm calling them,

361
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:01,920
[Reagan] and I'm proud of this,

362
00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:04,170
[Reagan] the Loss Mitigation Team.

363
00:16:04,670 --> 00:16:06,320
[Rush Lindell] That's actually not wrong.

364
00:16:06,770 --> 00:16:10,070
[Reagan] Jackson talks the most out of any justice on the bench,

365
00:16:10,070 --> 00:16:10,170
[Rush Lindell] Wow.

366
00:16:10,170 --> 00:16:11,020
[Reagan] by a mile,

367
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:12,520
[Reagan] so she's Overtime.

368
00:16:12,894 --> 00:16:15,294
[Reagan] Sotomayor is the Dissent Factory.

369
00:16:15,694 --> 00:16:16,694
[Reagan] Kagan is the... I

370
00:16:16,694 --> 00:16:17,794
[Rush Lindell] The smart one.

371
00:16:17,794 --> 00:16:20,244
[Reagan] was going to say the strategist, but...

372
00:16:20,394 --> 00:16:24,194
[Rush Lindell] She's the one the other two are waiting on to write the dissent that'll age well.

373
00:16:24,394 --> 00:16:25,444
[Rush Lindell] That's not a nickname.

374
00:16:25,744 --> 00:16:26,994
[Rush Lindell] That's actually her job.

375
00:16:27,244 --> 00:16:27,794
[Reagan] Yeah,

376
00:16:28,194 --> 00:16:28,994
[Reagan] that one landed.

377
00:16:29,394 --> 00:16:30,844
[Rush Lindell] You had eight good ones.

378
00:16:30,994 --> 00:16:31,594
[Rush Lindell] I'll take it.

379
00:16:36,894 --> 00:16:37,694
[Reagan] All right,

380
00:16:37,844 --> 00:16:39,194
[Reagan] Reagan's taken the wheel,

381
00:16:39,544 --> 00:16:40,944
[Reagan] so here's the cheat sheet:

382
00:16:41,344 --> 00:16:45,294
[Reagan] the Court drops rulings any day between now and the end of June.

383
00:16:45,494 --> 00:16:52,794
[Reagan] No announcements in advance; you wake up Thursday morning and it's there or it isn't, and then maybe it's early July.

384
00:16:53,194 --> 00:16:58,194
[Reagan] U.S. news reported the justices have pushed major rulings into July in recent years.

385
00:16:58,644 --> 00:17:02,494
[Rush Lindell] So what does a conservative win actually look like when these land?

386
00:17:02,846 --> 00:17:03,796
[Reagan] Great question.

387
00:17:04,046 --> 00:17:06,146
[Reagan] Let me tell you what it does not look like.

388
00:17:06,246 --> 00:17:09,396
[Reagan] It does not look like a five-word headline that says,

389
00:17:09,546 --> 00:17:13,146
[Reagan] Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship. That tells you nothing.

390
00:17:13,546 --> 00:17:17,496
[Reagan] You need to know, did they rule on the merits of the Fourteenth Amendment,

391
00:17:17,896 --> 00:17:21,796
[Reagan] or did they just block the executive order on procedural grounds?

392
00:17:22,096 --> 00:17:27,346
[Reagan] Those are completely different outcomes with completely different consequences two years from now.

393
00:17:27,646 --> 00:17:29,246
[Rush Lindell] That's the honest caveat here,

394
00:17:29,346 --> 00:17:30,896
[Rush Lindell] Rush: a narrow ruling?

395
00:17:30,782 --> 00:17:37,432
[Rush Lindell] one that dodges the constitutional question can actually create more legal uncertainty than a clean loss would.

396
00:17:37,782 --> 00:17:40,032
[Rush Lindell] If the Court punts on Birthright Citizenship,

397
00:17:40,482 --> 00:17:41,682
[Rush Lindell] that fight doesn't end,

398
00:17:42,032 --> 00:17:46,582
[Rush Lindell] it just migrates back down to the lower courts and takes another decade to resolve.

399
00:17:47,082 --> 00:17:49,232
[Reagan] Same with the trans athlete cases.

400
00:17:49,482 --> 00:17:52,832
[Reagan] If Idaho gets tossed on mootness, which we talked about,

401
00:17:53,232 --> 00:17:54,582
[Reagan] West Virginia controls.

402
00:17:54,782 --> 00:17:56,832
[Reagan] But how broadly did they write it?

403
00:17:56,702 --> 00:17:56,902
[Reagan] Did it,

404
00:17:57,102 --> 00:18:01,402
[Reagan] did they touch Equal Protection or did they keep it narrow to Title IX?

405
00:18:01,752 --> 00:18:04,452
[Reagan] That's the sentence in the ruling that actually matters.

406
00:18:05,052 --> 00:18:10,752
[Rush Lindell] And the Humphreys Executor case-if Roberts writes a carve out for the Fed and torches everything else,

407
00:18:11,102 --> 00:18:17,302
[Rush Lindell] the headline will say "Court Expands Presidential Power." But the real question is where the carve out ends.

408
00:18:17,752 --> 00:18:20,802
[Rush Lindell] That line gets litigated for the next twenty years.

409
00:18:21,402 --> 00:18:23,002
[Reagan] So here's what I want you to do.

410
00:18:23,038 --> 00:18:24,588
[Reagan] When these rulings drop,

411
00:18:24,888 --> 00:18:25,838
[Reagan] skip the chyron,

412
00:18:26,288 --> 00:18:27,888
[Reagan] find the actual holding,

413
00:18:28,288 --> 00:18:31,388
[Reagan] ask did the majority rule on the constitutional question,

414
00:18:31,788 --> 00:18:36,288
[Reagan] or did they find a narrower exit that one sentence tells you everything.

415
00:18:36,838 --> 00:18:38,338
[Rush Lindell] Read past page one.

416
00:18:38,788 --> 00:18:40,438
[Reagan] Read past page one.

417
00:18:40,638 --> 00:18:41,138
[Reagan] That's it.

418
00:18:41,488 --> 00:18:43,538
[Reagan] The Court doesn't owe you a clean answer,

419
00:18:43,838 --> 00:18:45,238
[Reagan] but you owe the real one.

420
00:18:45,488 --> 00:18:46,238
[Reagan] Go find it.

421
00:18:51,454 --> 00:18:52,254
[Reagan] All right,

422
00:18:52,404 --> 00:18:54,504
[Reagan] that's the show—Twenty-three cases,

423
00:18:54,754 --> 00:18:59,004
[Reagan] four constitutional battlegrounds, and one very uncomfortable nickname draft.

424
00:18:59,604 --> 00:19:00,304
[Rush Lindell] For the record,

425
00:19:00,404 --> 00:19:03,054
[Rush Lindell] the nickname draft was entirely Rush's idea.

426
00:19:03,582 --> 00:19:04,582
[Reagan] Guilty.

427
00:19:04,682 --> 00:19:05,082
[Reagan] Look,

428
00:19:05,182 --> 00:19:06,782
[Reagan] the bottom line today is this.

429
00:19:07,032 --> 00:19:10,582
[Reagan] The rulings dropping out of this court in the next few weeks aren't abstract.

430
00:19:10,982 --> 00:19:12,482
[Reagan] They land on real people,

431
00:19:12,832 --> 00:19:13,632
[Reagan] real policy,

432
00:19:13,832 --> 00:19:14,632
[Reagan] and real elections.

433
00:19:15,082 --> 00:19:17,182
[Rush Lindell] That's the frame I'd carry out of this episode.

434
00:19:17,682 --> 00:19:19,082
[Rush Lindell] Whether it's birthright citizenship,

435
00:19:19,432 --> 00:19:23,232
[Rush Lindell] the trans athlete bans, or what happens to independent agency heads,

436
00:19:23,632 --> 00:19:26,282
[Rush Lindell] you've got the tools now to read those opinions when they drop.

437
00:19:26,732 --> 00:19:29,032
[Rush Lindell] Procedural punt versus constitutional decision.

438
00:19:29,406 --> 00:19:30,706
[Rush Lindell] Narrow versus sweeping:

439
00:19:30,706 --> 00:19:30,956
[Reagan] Right.

440
00:19:31,256 --> 00:19:32,456
[Rush Lindell] that distinction matters.

441
00:19:33,106 --> 00:19:35,206
[Reagan] Five votes and it's settled law.

442
00:19:35,406 --> 00:19:36,306
[Reagan] That's not dramatic,

443
00:19:36,556 --> 00:19:37,756
[Reagan] that's just how it works.

444
00:19:37,906 --> 00:19:38,756
[Reagan] So pay attention.

445
00:19:39,356 --> 00:19:40,556
[Rush Lindell] Pay attention and subscribe,

446
00:19:40,906 --> 00:19:43,456
[Rush Lindell] so you don't miss the episode where we actually have answers.

447
00:19:44,206 --> 00:19:45,906
[Reagan] New episodes every weekday.

448
00:19:46,106 --> 00:19:47,256
[Reagan] If you got something out of today,

449
00:19:47,556 --> 00:19:48,856
[Reagan] leave us a five star review,

450
00:19:49,156 --> 00:19:49,706
[Reagan] hit subscribe,

451
00:19:50,156 --> 00:19:50,656
[Reagan] tell a friend.

452
00:19:51,006 --> 00:19:51,306
[Reagan] Reagan,

453
00:19:51,506 --> 00:19:52,206
[Reagan] always a pleasure.

454
00:19:52,706 --> 00:19:53,256
[Rush Lindell] Thanks, Rush.

455
00:19:53,406 --> 00:19:54,206
[Rush Lindell] We'll see you next time.

456
00:19:57,662 --> 00:19:58,112
[Speaker 3] Mm-hmm.