Immigration deadlock reprises Obama's battle with the court

WASHINGTON — By deadlocking on President Barack Obama's immigration program, the Supreme Court not only scuttled a policy the White House hoped would be a cornerstone of the president's legacy — it added another chapter to Obama's turbulent history with the court and delivered a reminder that there's more to come.
In Obama's final seven months in office, the federal courts will weigh in on several key pieces of his remaining agenda — including environmental regulations. The court has twice saved Obama's signature health care law from becoming his signature failure. The president has heralded the court's decision on gay marriage, and personally dressed down justices for a decision on campaign finance laws.
And in a remarkable, perhaps fitting twist, the court has become the subject of one of Obama's last major battles with Congress: Thursday's 4-4 tie was due to the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the Republican-led Senate's refusal to consider confirming Merrick Garland, Obama's choice as a replacement.
Obama is hardly the first president to ride this sort of judicial roller coaster. Most presidents learn quickly the Supreme Court can turn from friend to foe with just a few swift sentences. (Thursday's 4-4 tie came with a mere nine words.) But experts say Obama's relationship with the court is the result of a confluence of trends — including the growing power and politicization of the court, state and local officials increasingly turning to federal courts to challenge federal laws, and Obama's decision to use executive authority on issues when he couldn't find consensus with Congress.
"I think the court now has become a much more integral part of any president's legacy — not just in how presidents shape the courts, but how they transcend them," said Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. "It's about how they make sure the courts support the things they're doing that will end up lasting long after they're in office."
Obama's attempt at changing immigration policy was dealt a major blow Thursday. The Supreme Court's tie indefinitely froze his plans to temporarily stop the deportation for up to 4 million people living in the U.S. illegally. Without a majority decision, the court let stand the decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with Texas and two dozen other states in deciding that the administration had no authority to grant the status and blocking its implementation.