The Supreme Court may be anxious to portray itself as an apolitical institution. But this term, political questions writ large are knocking at the high court door.

The upcoming term will almost surely be a march to the right on almost every issue that is a flash point in American society. Among them: abortion, guns, gay rights, the separation of church and state, immigration and presidential power.

Also headed to the court are cases testing the power of Congress to get information from the executive branch and elsewhere, information that is relevant to congressional oversight and potentially, to impeachment.

Clearly, President Trump had something like that in mind when he said of the current impeachment inquiry, “It shouldn’t be allowed. There should be a way of stopping it, maybe legally through the courts.”

And if that isn’t enough, pending before the court is a sleeper case testing the very structure of our presidential election system.

The Supreme Court, by tradition, has tried to stay out of big controversies in an election year. But the justices, even if reticent, don’t always have control over their docket. When the lower courts are divided on major questions, the justices cannot always escape their responsibility to be the final decider.

Posted by The non-Conformist