WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, combined with the Republican takeover of the Senate, may extend conservative control of the Supreme Court for another two decades.
For much of the last four years, progressives focused their energies on proposals to expand the size of the court or impose term limits on the current justices. These ideas to restructure the court depended on Democrats winning sweeping power in both the White House and the Senate.
Instead, Republicans will be in charge and positioned to preserve the conservative grip on the high court long after Trump leaves Washington.
The two oldest justices are also its most conservative jurists. Clarence Thomas, 76, joined the court 33 years ago and would become the longest-serving justice in the court’s history early in 2028. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., appointed in 2006, is 74.