Four Republican Justices vote to allow ruling that the Supremacy Clause does not apply during Democratic administrations to stand

Is Texas allowed to stop federal officials from executing duly authorized powers in a field of plenary federal jurisdiction? Reasonable minds do not differ, lawless partisan hacks do:

The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Monday and cleared the way for Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire Texas officials installed along a busy stretch of the southern border until the legality of the barriers is resolved in court.

As is typical in emergency actions, the majority did not explain its reasoning for dissolving an order from a lower court. Four conservatives — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh — noted their dissents without explanation.

The case is one of several legal battles between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and the Biden administration over the governor’s border crackdown, Operation Lone Star. It comes at a time of rising tension over how to handle hundreds of thousands of migrants who have entered the country illegally in recent months.

[…]

Federal officials say the sharp barriers have maimed and bloodied migrants at several locations and pose a hazard to U.S. agents. After border-crossers used blankets and other garments to try to protect themselves from lacerations while crawling under or over the barrier, federal authorities cut a path through the wire to allow safe passage.

The 5th Circuitorder allows agents to cut the barrier in a medical emergency, but the Justice Department said the exception is essentially meaningless because it can take 10 to 30 minutes to cut through the thick layers of wire.

Adding to the urgency, federal officials said this month that Texas National Guard personnel had blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents who were investigating reports of drowning migrants from a section of the Rio Grande where the state had placed the barriers.The bodies of three migrants, a woman and two children, were found in the river by Mexican authorities days later.

Texas has told Border Patrol officials that agents who want to use the park’s boat ramp have to ask for permission, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar urged the justices to “restore Border Patrol’s access to the border it is charged with patrolling and the migrants it is responsible for apprehending, inspecting, and processing.”

I wouldn’t say “The Constitution 5, Nullification 4” is a particularly reassuring outcome, even if it’s better than vice versa.