And that could pose a problem for fans of the filibuster in the Republican-led Senate. Senate Republicans are highly motivated to address immigration. Having negotiated the last two significant, bipartisan immigration deals in the Senate, I have the scars to prove it. Republican senators are unlikely to sit by while the courts prevent Trump from using his broad immigration and national-security powers to enact his core agenda. Expecting them to cater to the demands of seven Democratic senators in order to fix a problem created by Democrats may be a bridge too far.
The Supreme Court is a governing body, just like Congress and the executive. The timely resolution of the controversies surrounding Trump’s immigration agenda is as much a question of governance as of jurisprudence. If the Supreme Court dithers and allows the judiciary to play politics with immigration enforcement, it may well raise the political temperature until 50 senators see no choice but to abandon the filibuster.
Leader McConnell protected the filibuster in no small part to protect the Supreme Court. It would be a tragic irony if the Court’s indecision and timidity precipitated the filibuster’s demise.
