The Atlantic

Trump’s Most Lasting Legacy?

America’s courts—presently a thorn in the president’s side—are about to get a lot more conservative. And they will probably stay that way for a very long time.
Source: Joshua Roberts / Reuters

With the investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign, the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the already controversial healthcare bill and the never-ending saga of Press Secretary Sean Spicer, it would seem that the Trump administration is in a tailspin, grappling daily with an onslaught of unforced errors and unforeseen consequences, too busy putting out the latest fire (or dousing it with gasoline) to pay too much heed to actually moving the ball forward.

But amid all the he said-he said allegations and endless rounds of Recusal Jeopardy, there is one corner of the universe where Team Trump has been successfully executing on its campaign promises, ticking off agenda items with the humming efficiency of a well-oiled machine: reshaping the nation’s courts.

The hearings that have gotten the most airtime of late (which is to say: all the airtime of late) were ones featuring former FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Senate’s equivalent of a public fireworks display—all pyrotechnics

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