‘Big Thumb on the Scale’: MS NOW Analyst Spots Kavanaugh’s ‘Stunning’ Message to Congress in ‘Deciding’ Birthright Vote

President Donald Trump’s defeat at the Supreme Court on birthright citizenship may have come with a roadmap for Congress, according to MS NOW senior legal correspondent Lisa Rubin, who flagged Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion as leaving open a future path for lawmakers to rewrite federal law.

Appearing on Money, Power, Politics after Tuesday’s landmark ruling, Rubin described Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion as “stunning,” arguing it underscored how pivotal the conservative justice was in securing the court’s 6-3 judgment while signaling that Congress could still attempt to narrow birthright citizenship through legislation.

The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to Trump by ruling that the 14th Amendment guarantees automatic U.S. citizenship for virtually all children born in the country, striking down an executive order he signed on the first day of his second term.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, rejecting Trump’s longstanding argument that the Constitution does not guarantee birthright citizenship.

Rubin began her analysis by warning that the ruling was “narrower” than many court watchers anticipated after oral arguments.

“Yeah. And it’s narrower than we thought it was going to be, certainly by listening to oral argument. There are five justices who have voted to say that the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause protects birthright citizenship as we have long understood it,” she said.

She then highlighted the opening of Kavanaugh’s concurrence, reading his conclusion that while Trump’s executive order “doesn’t violate the 14th Amendment,” it “does contravene a federal statute.”

Rubin emphasized what she viewed as the opinion’s broader implication, reading aloud that Kavanaugh added: “‘Consistent with the 14th Amendment, Congress could amend that statute or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But congress has not yet done so.’”

“In other words, five justices saying the Constitution is the Constitution is the Constitution, and Justice Kavanaugh saying, ‘Yeah, I agree with them in terms of the state of federal law, but if Congress wants to change this, that’s up to Congress,’” Rubin said.

“We often talk about the Roberts court,” she continued. “After today, this term at least, will be a big, big thumb on the scale, fist on the table, for Brett Kavanaugh, who has issued multiple majority opinions today and also is really the big deciding vote here.”

Rubin added that Kavanaugh’s decision to concur while “leaving for another day whether Congress can make a different decision” showed just how close the president was to winning the case were the court composed just a little differently “because it is only a five four decision on the constitutional ground.”

Watch above via MS NOW.

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