Posted on 04/15/2021 5:54:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
The Constitution allows Congress to set the number of Supreme Court justices.
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS PLAN to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources familiar with the closely held measure.
The bill would add four seats to the high court, bringing the total to 13 from the current nine. The bill is led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, subcommittee Chair Hank Johnson, and first-term Rep. Mondaire Jones. In the Senate, the bill is being championed by Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
The number of justices on the court, which is set by Congress, has fluctuated throughout the course of the nation’s history, reaching as many as 10 seats before settling on nine in 1869. In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz suggested that if Hillary Clinton were elected, the Republican Senate should keep Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat empty, effectively bringing the number of justices down to eight.
Republicans currently hold six seats, while Democrats hold just three. Republicans were able to solidify control of the court under former President Donald Trump, after first refusing to advance Merrick Garland’s nomination under former President Barack Obama and then confirming Justice Neil Gorsuch after Trump’s election. Then after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last September, Republicans threw out the procedures they had previously embraced and confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a matter of weeks.
After Trump’s nomination of Coney Barrett, then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced pressure to stop her confirmation by any means necessary. When those myriad options fell short and Coney Barrett was pushed through, the conversation turned to expanding the court.
“Not only do these extremist judges threaten more than a century of progressive achievements,” read a letter to Schumer by 20 New York elected officials, “they threaten to foreclose the possibility of any future progress under a Democratic administration.”
But after Democrats lost races they hoped to win in Maine, North Carolina, and Iowa, some Democratic strategists argued that the talk of court packing and ending the filibuster had inspired more Republicans to vote, and discussion of the move was shelved.
In April, President Joe Biden created a commission to study possible reforms to the court, including adding seats. This past October, Biden promised to create such a commission if elected, saying the judicial system was “getting out of whack,” but said, “It’s not about court packing.”
There’s another quote that I can’t locate right now that he stipulated that the ‘war’ doesn’t even have to be real, just that the people have to believe it exists..............
I believe they have to kill the filibuster before a vote. Or lose
True! What is done can be undone. The Rs should threated to undo this horrible assault.
IMHO, this is a threat to the SCOTUS and those who have cause before the court. I’m not in the least concerned.
Some countries have 20+.....................
Wow. This is too much for Nancy P. to contemplate.
But when that commission recommends packing the court, then what?
Which means it will probably come to a House vote. We all know what's going to come out of that "commission". The only chance the "packing" fails is in the Senate. Even then, Romney, Murkowsky, Collins could fail us once the dem/soc/commies get rid of the filibuster. If they don't and Romney, Murkowsky, Collins vote party line, then Kamelho will decide. End game.
*yawn* please stop posting this alarmist BS
We had our fun poking the libs for four years and laughing at their Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Please don’t let them do the same to you.
There is ZERO chance of this passing in congress. ZERO.
So calm the hell down, and go enjoy your life.
Well all I can say is they successfully pulled off a coup on this country so I wouldn’t be so sure they couldn’t also pull stunts to further get what they want changing the Supreme Court. It’s been done before.
Ummm they need to be filibuster proof. They aren’t. Manchen already said he wont get rid of the filibuster.
>> There is ZERO chance of this passing in congress. ZERO.
>.>So calm the hell down, and go enjoy your life.
And there was no election fraud either.
These days, normalcy bias can be dangerous.
I vote for 7 billion Supreme Court justices.
Mob-ruled, single-party country. Not unlike the state of California.
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America.
Well the dems are that stupid. Next elexshun we be reducing it to three.
Really! Who is going to do that? Republicans? What if they don’t win because of the election sham of 2020?
Correction. The SCOTUS has 4 leftists, 2 conservatives, 3 cowards and a corrupt Chief Justice who sells himself to the highest bidder. Barrett, Kavanagh and Gorsuch will love being in the minority. They can write scathing dissents and pretend to care about the Constitution, while knowing they were personally responsible for permitting the steal and destroying America. Same as the RINOs in the Senate.
Why not 1,000?
[Welcome to the Soviet Union.]
Dah, comrade.
Soon to be People’s Republic of America.
Constitution? Meh....
Bill of Rights? Meh....
If done, there will be two sets of votes, one before and one after court packing. It’s a beautiful way to divide the country.
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