One of the most ominous views of his presidency is Donald Trump's recent outburst against judges of the American High Court. Trump has started to denigrate those judges who gained their tenure under a Democrat president and particularly those nominated by his predecessor, Barak Obama.
Using the term " Obama judges " carries the insinuation that any time the High Court rules favourably on a case that he opposes that decision is marred by the balance imposed by the Democrat side of politics. The recent midterm elections have reinforced Trump's ambition to stack the High Court with conservative minded judges during the remainder of his time in office.
The founding fathers were very careful to enact a procedure which ensured that the selection of these judges who serve for the remainder of their lifetime were free of political bias. When a sitting president nominates a contender for the High Court that judge needs the confirmation of the Senate to join the bench. That requires a grilling in which his or her entire career will be carefully scrutinised and the applicants will be directly questioned on their attitude to subjects that may some day come before the court for decision.
The requirement that confirmation needed the consensus of seventy percent of Senators ensured that both sides of politics needed to reach common agreement for the confirmation to go forward. At least some of the Senators from the minority political party needed to voice agreement and that ensured that applicants were at least roundly impartial politically.
That arrangement served the country well since its inauguration, but in recent times the seventy percent confirmation was dropped in favour of a simple majority. As a consequence, at the midterm elections the presidents political party retained a small majority in the Senate and consequently the Republicans now have the ability to decide the filling of future High Court vacancies.
The future of the High Court is now openly political and consequently the impartiality with which its rulings were accepted by the people will be subjected to political challenge. The wisdom of this impartial body that was universally accepted will be dragged into the mire of party politics and the heat of battle that used to be solely decided at the ballot box.
The likely outcome is that the president will clash with the High Court and given his tendency to denigrate all forms of opposition he is likely to ignore the ruling of judges appointed when a Democrat held office. Trump has a red neck support base with a tendency for violence and such a confrontation can be mirrored on the streets of America.
Trump admires the strong men who hold virtual dictatorships in other countries and he may seek to eliminate term limits to hold office longer or even dilute the power of the High Court to circumvent government decisions. It seems that the American people voted a very dangerous president to the country's highest office !
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