The Story:
The US Supreme Court, in a order issued Friday, December 11, rejected an attempt by the state of Texas to re-open last month’s presidential election. Texas had sought to over-turn the certified Biden victories in four swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan. But the results in those states stood, and the electoral college meeting on Monday, December 14, went Biden’s way.
Background:
The US Constitution, Article II, section 1, clause 2 provides that “Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.” The suggestion, then, is that each State is in charge of its own presidential election, since that is its manner of choosing and “directing” its electors.
That Texas sued other states over the supposedly improper way in which they had held their elections ran contrary at least to the tenor of that clause.
The Thing to Know:
All nine of the Justices rejected Texas’s effort, including the three Justices whom President Donald Trump had himself nominated. This is a stark example of a very general truth: a seat on SCOTUS is a lifetime appointment and the appointee is not obliged to feel any gratitude toward the appointor.
