The Supreme Court’s October 2025 term was characterized by pronounced partisan divisions, with the court frequently ruling in favor of Republican interests and former President Donald Trump. According to legal analysts, the court voted for Republicans and Trump whenever possible, only checking Trump where no plausible alternative existed.

Conservative law Professor William Baude acknowledged Trump’s abuse of power as “outrageous” but argued the court was not simply a rubber stamp. Baude noted it was rare for a court with six members appointed by the president’s party and three of his own appointees to rule against him on multiple significant issues in one term, citing cases involving birthright citizenship, tariffs, and voting by mail.

Legal commentator Elie Honig suggested that some 6-3 or 7-2 decisions this term reflected differences in judicial methodology rather than politics. Honig pointed to cases involving the National Guard and Mifepristone that went against Trump temporarily but noted that the court ruled in Trump’s favor on asylum, Temporary Protected Status, the Voting Rights Act, campaign finance, and transgender athlete claims.

Liberal law professor Stephen Vladeck described the conservative majority’s occasional rulings against Trump as akin to “the arsonist who shows up with a fire extinguisher,” concluding the term was “bleak.” Vladeck highlighted that out of 20 rulings splitting the court 5-4 or 6-3, Democratic appointees were united on the same side in 19.

Justice Samuel Alito criticized a majority ruling as “a serious mistake,” while Chief Justice Roberts dismissed key dissenting arguments as relying solely on a “funeral oration for Lincoln,” calling Alito’s points “essentially nonsensical.”

The term’s partisanship was evident, with far more rulings aligning strictly along party lines than in previous terms. The court’s decisions have empowered the president in controversial ways, such as pressuring media figures critical of him, while cloaking such actions in constitutional authority.

Sources