Why Can't Trump Treat The Rest of His Presidency Like His Judicial Nominations?

Amid all the turmoil surrounding the Trump White House, there has been one area in which the president has consistently delivered: making solid judicial nominations. The confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court remains the highlight of Trump’s presidency so far, and Trump has recently begun nominating candidates to fill the numerous vacancies on federal circuit courts around the country, as well. All the nominations have so far proceeded with a minimum of fuss and no major missteps.

The reason is simple. Trump, for whatever reason, has never really seemed to care much about judicial nominations (even though the task is one of the greatest legacies any president will leave), and so far has largely left the process of selecting nominees, and promoting those nominees, to his advisers. In the realm of judicial vacancies, he seems poised to remain a remarkably hands-off president.

What this proves is that when Trump listens to his advisers, avoids inflammatory public statements (or really any public statements at all), and otherwise takes a hands-off approach, his agenda has a much greater chance of success. When, on the other hand, he becomes involved, ignores counsel, and sends early-morning tweets about any given subject, his agenda in that area is far more likely to derail.

If Trump could just take his model of the presidency as it pertained to judicial nominations, and expand it to other issues, he might begin to see a much greater rate of success.