SCOTUS Is Ready to Undercut Oversight

Yes, Democrats won Congress, but they haven’t defeated the Accountability Death Star that is the Roberts court. This week on Amicus, guest host and Slate executive editor Susan Matthews is joined by Court Accountability’s Alex Aronson to discuss the next phase of the fight—and why a few reasonable-looking Supreme Court decisions shouldn’t lull anyone into thinking the justices have changed their stripes.

Aronson expects the court to work on rehabilitating its reputation after the midterms, all the while frustrating congressional oversight. They discuss what separates an investigation from a sternly worded letter, why Leonard Leo’s network remains a formidable foe, and how Democrats can avoid squandering their mandate while waiting for someone to honor a subpoena. Plus: lame-duck judicial confirmations, the Alito-and-Thomas retirement guessing game, and why court reform is vital, but definitely not a silver bullet for rescuing democracy.

Alex Aronson’s piece on what must come next: https://www.contrariannews.org/p/the-roberts-court-is-next

Alex mentioned the following episodes from the Amicus archive:

Kim Lane Scheppele on legal autocracy: https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/01/scotus-and-project-2025-ushered-in-magas-lawlessness

Niko Bowie and Daphna Renan on ending judicial supremacy:

https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/07/supreme-court-term-recap-birthright-citizenship-voting-rights

https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/10/stacey-abrams-ilyse-hogue-and-daphna-renan-on-reclaiming-the-constitution-from-scotus

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. On this week’s bonus episode of Amicus Plus, Jay Willis and Madiba Dennie examine Supreme Court oral arguments this week about a federal prisoner’s fight to sue over alleged abuse—and the consequences of letting federal agents operate with impunity. The justices keep saying Congress can fix it. Could that invitation finally come back to haunt them?

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