When it comes to the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has become a believer in unlikely second chances.
In the days since the court’s term ended last week with a flurry of high-profile opinions, the president and his legal team have floated the idea of invoking a longshot request to have the justices reconsider decisions they just made — a procedure that, in some cases, hasn’t worked in more than half a century.
Trump’s lawyers have already filed for a rehearing of the court’s decision to deny an appeal over a $5 million verdict finding that he sexually abused and defamed magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. And on Wednesday, Trump vowed to ask the court to re-do its decision shutting down his birthright citizenship order.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is wrong,” Trump posted on social media. “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY. This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”
Supreme Court rules technically allow parties to file for a rehearing within 25 days of a decision. But in practice, the court usually only grants such requests when a significant development comes to light in the aftermath of a ruling, not because the losing party simply disagrees with the outcome.
