Trump’s Party Makes Gains With U.S. Supreme Court

 

The Supreme¹ Court of the United States ended its term this month with a striking, almost dramatic finish.

In recent days, the court announced major decisions that relate to immigration, labor² unions and a woman’s right to end her pregnancy³. It also ruled on tensions between gay rights and opponents of same-sex marriage.

Then, one of the nine justices, Anthony Kennedy, announced he is retiring.

Kennedy is 81 years old, and the second-oldest person on the high court. Some court watchers call him the “swing voter” because they have a hard time predicting how he will vote in cases. His decision to retire, and the person who replaces him, will affect Supreme Court decisions far into the future.

In the U.S., the president nominates someone to fill an open seat on the nine-member court. Then a Senate committee holds hearings on the nomination⁴. If committee members vote to approve the nominee⁵, the nomination goes to the full Senate.

Once approved, Supreme Court justices can serve in the position for the rest of their lives.

Kennedy’s retirement⁶ gives President Donald Trump⁷ the chance to nominate someone who is likely to appeal to members of his Republican Party. Trump nominated such a candidate in 2017, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in early 2016. Scalia died during the presidency⁸ of Barack Obama, a Democrat⁹. Although Obama was president at the time, Republican leaders in Congress refused to hold hearings on the person he nominated. Now, however, a top Republican lawmaker said the Senate “stands ready” to move quickly on hearings for Kennedy’s replacement¹⁰.

A narrow majority

The importance of who sits on the Supreme Court has been clear in recent decisions. A narrow majority of five justices, including Kennedy, ruled that Trump’s travel ban on people from some majority-Muslim nations is legal.

The same narrow majority struck down a rule requiring all public workers to give financial support to labor unions.

In another decision, five members of the court ruled that “crisis pregnancy centers” did not have to tell women the state offered free and legal abortion¹¹ services.

And a larger, 7-2 majority ruled in the case of a Christian¹² baker¹³ in Colorado. They said he did not violate the law by refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Kennedy added that state officials had not treated the baker’s religious objections respectfully.

Supreme Court justices aim to be independent interpreters of the Constitution and not politicians. However, a reporter for the Associated Press notes that Americans who approve of the recent Supreme Court decisions may also support Trump and other Republican candidates in the next elections.

Reporter Jonathan Lemire noted¹⁴ they may do so in order to ensure another conservative-minded justice is added to the court. Lemire noted that, “Trump himself took the unusual step of publicly releasing a list of Supreme Court candidates, most of whom were traditional jurists that many Republicans believed would uphold conservative values.”

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Words in This Story

dramatic - adj. attracting attention : causing people to carefully listen and look

gay - adj. of, relating to, or used by homosexuals

abortion - n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus¹⁵

baker - n. someone who bakes bread, cakes, etc.

cake - n. a sweet baked food made from a mixture of flour, sugar, and other ingredients (such as eggs and butter)

couple - n. two people who are married or who have a romantic or sexual relationship

interpreter - n. a person who explains the meaning of something

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。