What if Trump comes out tonight and puts ALL 3 or 4 of his picks up for the SC.
As far as I know there is nothing that says the number on the court is 9, right?
FDR tried to increase the number of SC judges to stuff the court left forever. Congress didn’t approve it. They wouldn’t go for it now, either.
The number is set by statute. 28 USC 1.
That number has been 9 since 1869. There were fewer before then, and there is nothing that says the president MUST nominate so that 9 are seated. Leaving the seat vacant would be better than seating any person who is not a dyed-in-the-wool constitutionalist.
That is an interesting question about number of justices on SCOTUS - and so I did a shallow belly flop swan dive into the shallow pool:
https://www.britannica.com/story/why-are-there-nine-justices-on-the-u.s.-supreme-court
Interesting article at link, but this is the relevant excerpt:
“...Basically, the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to determine how many justices sit on SCOTUS. This number has ranged between 5 and 10, but since 1869 the number has been set at 9. ...”