The new Supreme Court term has just kicked off, and conservatives are watching the alignment of this Court more closely than ever. After a term that produced some genuine wins, but far too many disappointing punts and defections, the 2026 term carries enormous stakes. A recent emergency docket (or shadow docket) ruling may offer a glimmer of hope.
For most of the last term, Justice Amy Coney Barrett provided the decisive fifth vote to give Chief Justice John Roberts and the liberal bloc a majority against President Trump on issue after issue. Birthright citizenship. Mail-in ballots accepted after Election Day. Trump's tariffs. A two-billion-dollar block on withheld foreign aid. Even the motion to delay Trump's New York sentencing before Inauguration. In each of those cases, Barrett sided with Roberts and the left.
That pattern makes the ballroom case, decided August 31st, worth paying attention to. Trump has long planned (and started construction) on a ballroom addition to the White House complex. A single D.C. resident who visits the area about once a month filed suit claiming aesthetic objections. An Obama-appointed judge blocked construction. The Supreme Court reversed it — with Barrett casting the deciding conservative vote and leaving Roberts to write a dissent. The Court correctly noted it has never found legal standing in circumstances like these before and declined to do so here. This was simple, clean, and correct.
Barrett may have remembered who brought her to the big dance — and it was not John Roberts. Justice Clarence Thomas has described Washington D.C. as a hideous place, and history shows the capital city has a way of reshaping people. David Souter was appointed by a Republican president and ended up timing his retirement to give Obama a seat. Roberts himself has drifted steadily toward the center. The pressure on Republican-appointed justices to avoid liberal media criticism is relentless and real.
We have already seen heavy activity leading into the October 2026 term, especially in the mail-in ballot cases. Thanks to the great work of Solicitor General John Sauer, the fight over commonsense fixes to mail-in ballots and many other issues have quickly made their way to the High Court.
With the midterms just one month away, this new Supreme Court term will define a great deal. You can believe we’ll be watching every vote closely, and you can stay on top of it with us at PhyllisSchlafly.com, again that’s PhyllisSchlafly.com. Join us again for the Phyllis Schlafly Report.
