# McConnell has filled the last circuit-court vacancy (first time in 40 years) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 25, 2020, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926 "2020-06-25T06:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/21 "2020-06-27T20:04:35Z")
The courts are currently set up in such a way as to thwart any attempts at working on Covid or the economy. If the courts do not play political games, then sure, leave them be. If they, as I suspect they will, use their power to harm the American people and blame it on the democrats, then something needs to be done about them. It isn’t really like it is that hard to do. They just need to pass and sign a bill, and it’s done. If dems control both houses and he presidency, they can have it done by early afternoon on January 21st. If they don’t control both houses, then it’s a non-starter, just not gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/22 "2020-06-30T12:43:05Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > To create more circuit judgeships, the Democrats would need 60 seats in the Senate (which they won’t get) or to eliminate the legislative filibuster. Eliminating the filibuster could be done by 50 Senators plus the VP, but there’s no guarantee all the Dems would go along with it (Manchin, Tester, Jones if he survives). Well, there’s no point in even _talking_ about what the Dems will do in 2021 if they aren’t willing to get rid of the filibuster. They’re going to be handcuffed by their own choice, and then when the 2022 midterms come along, their marginal voters won’t be any better off than they are now, and will stay home. Just like in 2010 and 1994. Kaboom. I try not to think too much about this looming disaster. But it’s coming. You’d think the Dems would learn, having been through this very same cycle twice already. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/23 "2020-06-30T16:53:45Z")
They better. When they didn’t kill the filibuster first chance they had during Obama’s term, I thought that they were naive. If they let is stand now, they are just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/24 "2020-07-02T13:00:54Z")
Agreed. Constitutional norms don’t work when only one side’s playing by those rules. The Republicans used procedural warfare and the absence of explicit rules to make up their own game. The Democrats will have to fight back somehow without the appearance of going overboard. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/25 "2020-07-16T20:21:10Z")
Side note: Whoa! I had forgotten I wrote this without posting it a few weeks ago, came back here today, and there it was. Cool… I understand what you are saying, but is “trust” the right word here? It seems to me that when you put your trust in someone, it’s because that person has asked you to do so. Like every bullshit politician who has ever come down the pike. But Roberts, to my knowledge, has never asked anyone to trust that he will rule on cases the way they might want him to. On another general note, I understand that McConnell has appointed a lot of judges. But I’m always a bit annoyed that people say things like, “McConnell has now shaped the judiciary in this country for a generation.” What, judges don’t die or retire? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/26 "2020-07-16T20:59:48Z")
From the [White House](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-appointing-historic-number-federal-judges-uphold-constitution-written/), “The average age of circuit judges appointed by President Trump is less than 50 years old – a full 10 years younger than the average age of President Obama’s circuit nominees.” Depending on how you define a “generation”, many of these judges will serve that long. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926/27 "2020-07-16T21:24:58Z")
I usually think of a generation as having 20 years, but I see from a quick Google that 20-30 years is a decent range. And your point is taken. But it did inspire me to look up the data on our circuit court judges, and from it I see that 52 out of 323 (I did this a bit quickly, I might be off by 1 or 2) were appointed by Trump. And hell, 45 were appointed by Reagan, and like all of us, they ain’t getting any younger. And given that as least as of now, Biden seems to be a shoo-in, McConnell is getting way to much credit for such shaping. Circuit court judges: [List of current United States circuit judges - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_circuit_judges) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcconnell-has-filled-the-last-circuit-court-vacancy-first-time-in-40-years/912926.md?page=1)