Now I’ve got to turn my back on you

Trump probably expected more personal loyalty:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for a House committee to receive former President Donald J. Trump’s tax returns, refusing his request to block their release in the waning weeks of Democratic control of the chamber.

The court’s order, which was unsigned and did not note any dissents, is the most recent instance in which it has sided against Mr. Trump, who appointed three justices to the bench. The decision means that the Treasury Department is likely to soon turn over Mr. Trump’s financial documents to the House, which has been seeking them since 2019.

Mr. Trump’s legal team had urged the justices to extend a lower court’s stay as it pursued an appeal before the Supreme Court, saying the House’s request raised issues that were too important to let the Treasury Department turn over his files before they were resolved.

But Douglas N. Letter, the chief lawyer for the House, urged the Supreme Court not to intervene, pointing to a new Congress in January. Any further delay “would leave the committee and Congress as a whole little or no time to complete their legislative work,” he wrote in a brief earlier this month.

Didn’t even sit on the case until Republicans take over in January!

The thing is that Republican elites on the Supreme Court don’t have to face primary voters, so they have no reason not to prioritize partisan/ideological preferences over Trump’s personal interests. When Republican interests and Trump interests coincide — say Trump is the nominee in 2024 and will win if Wisconsin Republicans can just throw out the electoral votes — the Court can be expected to back him up. But if there isn’t a clear convergence he’s on his own.

Or to put it another way, Alito just endorsed DeSantis:

The Supreme Court is best understood as a group of DeSantis voters https://t.co/SvfWSoeJ2L— Aaron 🇺🇸 (@BobbyBigWheel) November 22, 2022