These Progressives Seek to 'Disempower' the CourtsIs unfettered majority rule actually a good idea for the left to embrace?
Damon Root | 12.30.2025
Writing recently in The Guardian, left-wing law professors Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn argue that progressives should stop trying to save the judiciary from being overrun by conservatives and instead make "'disempowering' federal courts" a top progressive priority. "Far from pulling [the judiciary] back from the edge," they write, "our goal has to be to push it off."
In place of an independent judiciary that's empowered to overrule the unconstitutional actions of elected officials, Doerfler and Moyn argue in favor of a system in which elected officials—and the popular majorities they ostensibly represent—are free to impose their agendas without judicial interference. If progressives want their political project to succeed, Doerfler and Moyn claim, then progressives must "reassign power away from the judiciary and to the political branches."
I wonder if Doerfler and Moyn are familiar with the expression "be careful what you wish for." Because if they actually got their wish regarding the courts, it would likely backfire on progressives.
For the sake of argument, let's assume that the federal courts are magically stripped of their powers at this very moment. Would that leave progressives in a stronger position relative to President Donald Trump? I would think not.
On this point, the liberal law professor Steve Vladeck, who has offered his own criticisms of the Doerfler-Moyn approach, said it well. Here's how Vladeck put it:
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Source:
https://reason.com/2025/12/30/these-progressives-seek-to-disempower-the-courts/
