Why Is John Roberts in a Rush All of a Sudden?

[applegrove]

Why Is John Roberts in a Rush All of a Sudden?

May 13, 2026 at 3:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 151 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2026/05/13/why-is-john-roberts-in-a-rush-all-of-a-sudden/

Rick Hasen: “Over his two decades on the Supreme Court, United States Chief Justice John Roberts had consistently played the long game when it comes to the court’s weakening of voting rights. That was until the past few weeks. With a series of major upheavals in the past month alone, Roberts has signaled that he is shifting to a two-minute offense.”

“This change of velocity, heralded by rulings relating to Louisiana’s and Alabama’s redistricting, threatens to continually upend American elections and create incentives for maximum partisan warfare at exactly the wrong time. The question is why Roberts is suddenly playing like a man running out of time.”

[drray23]

1. Because Trump is not going to last forever

He has an opportunity to push for everything at once while Trump still controls the government.
Maybe he figured that would ensure the Republicans would stay in power and, hence, get even more right-wing supremes on the court, achieving what they could not achieve in 1862.

[WmChris]

3. Mid-Term Fear

He's afraid they've over played their hand and will pay the price in November unless they cheat and steal some more seats.

[Buckeyeblue]

2. There are 5 conservatives votes without him

He may not have had a choice.

[FBaggins]

4. Exactly

For all we know he held it up. Though the selection of Alito to write the decision probably means that is unlikely.

[RPM]

5. my guess - he gonna hang it up

why? age - or may to want to "tarnish" his legacy