Supreme Court prepares for major decisions on Trump taxes, LGBT rights, immigration and abortion

May 23, 2020

When Gerald Bostock went to Washington last fall to ask the Supreme Court to rule that it was unlawful for him to be fired because he’s gay, there was no global pandemic.

Since then, the world — and his new job as a mental health counselor — have been flipped upside down by Covid-19. But Bostock is still waiting on the justices to say whether he and millions of other LGBTQ workers are protected by federal anti-discrimination laws.

“This crisis is going to end. But I sincerely hope that moving forward from this, everyone realizes this is a reality for the LGBT community every day we go to work,” Bostock said in a recent interview. “Are we going to lose our jobs because of who we are, who we love, how we identify?”

Bostock’s is just one of several Supreme Court cases expected to be resolved in the coming weeks with major implications for U.S. politics and the economy. The decisions are key to the future of not just LGBTQ workers but also hundreds of thousands of young migrants and their family members, women seeking abortions, and the president himself, who has fought vigorously to keep his financial records private.

The outcomes, coming in an election year, could have an impact on the race between President Donald Trump, who has championed the confirmation of nearly 200 of his conservative judicial picks, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who has pledged to nominate judges of a different mold.

The decisions are also likely to bring to the fore the high stakes of November’s elections for the president and Senate — the body that confirms federal judicial appointments, including justices. With just six months before Election Day, the GOP hold on the Senate has recently shown signs of weakness, suggesting that Democrats may have a chance at seizing control of the chamber.

While the White House and Congress are focused on the next coronavirus stimulus package, decisions from the court over the next few weeks could also shape the political landscape for years to come.

Some of the questions facing the justices go to the heart of key Trump administration priorities and could inflame the battle between Trump and Biden.

For instance, in one case before the court, Trump’s Justice Department has asked the justices to allow him to end the Obama-era immigration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The program shields hundreds of thousands of young migrants known as “Dreamers” from deportation and allows them to receive work permits.

Lower courts in California, New York and the District of Columbia have blocked Trump from terminating the program. He has claimed that President Barack Obama never had the authority to implement it in the first place.

In a twist, the challenge to the Trump administration came from Janet Napolitano, Obama’s Department of Homeland Security secretary — whom Biden once said should be on the Supreme Court herself. (He has since said he will nominate a black woman.)

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/22/supreme-court-readies-for-decisions-on-daca-lgbtq-rights-abortion.html