Trump will have the ability to replace Roberts, Alito and Thomas, all 70 or above if they retire. Maybe even Sotomayor who is also 70 and if reports are correct, in poor health. Although the republicans have more senate seats up for reelection in 2016, 20, vs. 13 for the democrats, I see only 2 seats where the Democrats stand a good chance of switching. Even if they do, that still will leave the republicans in control. Meaning Trump will have 4 years to replace any of the above SCOTUS justices. I do however expect the democrats to regain control of the House in the 2026 midterms, perhaps by very large numbers, blue wave numbers as Americans quickly tire of Trump like they did in his first term as president. They’ll remember why they ousted him back in 2020.
A wipeout, yes, for the time being. But I expect as I stated above a democratic rebound beginning in 2026 and ending up with the presidency again in 2028. There’s nothing anyone can do about the SCOTUS. I was adamantly opposed to then Ex-Democratic major leader, Senator Harry Reid’s precedence setting first use of the nuclear option setting a simple majority for presidential nominees’ approval/confirmation. It brought the democrats a very short-term victory, but a huge defeat as the future from that time to today as it played out, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett are the results of Reid’s actions. Replacements for the 3 SCOTUS justices I mentioned above and possibly a 4th is on the horizon. A decade? Probably more like 2 or 3 decades.
We’ll cope and survive.
