The U.S. Supreme Court has newly rejected requests for quick consideration in eight election-related court cases, including three in which Trump or his campaign is a chief plaintiff. There’s no apparent indication that the Court has any particular interest in hearing the cases. Now, the Court “will consider the requests that it take up the cases on their regular schedule,” reporter Steve Vladeck explains — at which point the cases will be even more out of place. With President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration just days away and the electoral college outcome already certified by Congress, these cases all seem likely already moot. The entirety of the presidential election process has, at this point, long since been completed, and no court anywhere in the country has at any point confirmed or agreed with Trump’s claims that systematic fraud swung the outcome to Biden.
Without comment, #SCOTUS denies the pending motions to expedite in eight pending election-related disputes. This means it will consider the requests that it take up the cases on their regular schedule (by which point they'll be practically, if not formally, moot).
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 11, 2021
The Supreme Court did not offer any comment with their denials of the requests for quick consideration in those eight election-related cases. The Court issued their denials days after a mob of the outgoing president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, putting the lives of Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress in danger. Trump incited this mob violence, and, after the incident unfolded, he justified what took place, writing on his since-removed Twitter account that “these are the things and events that happen” when an election victory is stolen, which, of course, did not actually take place.
🚨ALERT: #SCOTUS DENIES motions to fast-track consideration of Trump-related lawsuits seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. This confirms that the Court will NOT hear these cases prior to the Inauguration. Since 11/3, Trump and his allies have lost 63 lawsuits in court. pic.twitter.com/ZHo3oIJlWI
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) January 11, 2021
This occasion is not the first time when the Supreme Court has weighed in, even if tacitly, on an election-related issue. The Court also rejected a case in which Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), alongside a slew of allies including the Trump campaign, sought the invalidation of the election outcome in four states where Biden won. No matter any haughty, self-important comments about election security or anything else, the clear, obvious net effect of these efforts would have been the disqualification of millions of duly documented votes from around the country. The effort was a brazenly authoritarian affront against democracy in the United States.
After the mob violence at the Capitol, a number of Republican members of Congress — including, prominently, Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) — still voted against certifying some of Biden’s electoral votes. Not even the glaring example of the real-world consequences of their anti-democratic antics was enough to get them to change their mind.
