Mitch McConnell doesn’t seem to care much about America, but he definitely does care about the Republican Party and the Senate. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he is capable of taking the long view, and he understands very well that what goes around comes around. As a result, you can probably rely on him to resist any efforts to eliminate the legislative filibuster, and Trump won’t necessarily be able to count on his support in the civil rights crackdown that will follow a war or major terrorist attack.
It occurred to me this morning that the Chief Justice plays roughly the same role on the Supreme Court. He’s a GOP partisan to the core, but he cares deeply about his personal reputation within the legal community and about the Court’s reputation in the country as a whole. It is unlikely, therefore, that he will do an abrupt 180 and become a vocal proponent of federal power, particularly executive power, over the rights of Congress and the states. He will probably continue to make deals with the Court’s liberal wing to advance his agenda incrementally, while maintaining the appearance of the rule of law.
Gorsuch’s vote on the travel ban case strongly suggests that, at least for now, he plans to be a stooge for the Trump Administration. If there is a new vacancy on the Court, we have to assume that it will be filled by a fourth stooge. Roberts may be all that is standing in front of a judicial counterrevolution.