The Gossip Girl-like dynamics of the Supreme Court

There is perhaps no branch of government that fosters secrecy or harbors sneaky resentment to a degree even Gossip Girl herself would be astonished with, than the Supreme Court.

The highest court in the land has purposefully cast an opaque fog over its internal workings for decades, but in this past term, it was clear from their opinions that there was drama behind the scenes.

At the center of that is Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

If the court itself is Gossip Girl then Barrett is season two Jenny Humphrey. That’s to say, she’s breaking ranks with her OG squad and finding her own voice – although with less goth eyeliner.

Barrett, the youngest judge on the court, was hastily appointed by Trump in 2020 to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Her purpose was largely considered to be assisting conservatives in overturning Roe v. Wade – which she did, forever changing the landscape of reproductive rights.

And for the first two years of her role, Barrett was largely unremarkable in her decisions. She mostly sided with her conservative colleagues, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

But this term Barrett seemed to get frustrated by the men she’s expected to side with.

Nobody knows what goes on behind the heavy red curtains in the Supreme Court building once justices are alone, but we can get a sense of it from their very own words.

If you look behind the legalese, the opinions written by the justices reveal the gossip like a juicy blog — sometimes directly stated, other times written between the lines, xoxo.

Take Barrett’s concurring opinion in Trump v. Anderson – the case about whether or not Trump could remain on the ballot under the 14th Amendment.

Ultimately Barrett agreed with her colleagues,