Debate over the Supreme Court's recent performance remains highly polarized. However, David Cole, a prominent left-liberal Georgetown law professor and former National Director of the ACLU, published a qualified defense of the Court's rulings in the New York Review.

Cole emphasizes the Court’s crucial role in constraining abuses of power by former President Donald Trump. During the 2025–2026 term, the Supreme Court blocked four major Trump initiatives: ending birthright citizenship, imposing worldwide tariffs, firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, and deploying National Guard troops to cities including Chicago and Portland.

While Trump disparaged the justices as "fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats" after losing the tariffs case, Cole notes that this is not Donald Trump's Court. The Court’s decisions reflect a conservative judiciary acting in ways long supported by conservative legal thought, but the Court remains "partisan" to some extent, as some Republicans, including legal elites and conservative commentators, opposed the administration's positions in these cases.

Cole’s appraisal is notable for recognizing the Court’s role in upholding the rule of law against major assaults by the Trump administration, even as he critiques certain aspects of its performance.

Sources