'The moderate left is gone': Republicans line up to condemn Dems' plan to introduce a bill to pack Supreme Court with four new justices - erasing the GOP majority

 Republicans have condemned proposals to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to 13 - a plan which Democratic members of Congress have said they will introduce on Thursday.

'Packing the Supreme Court would destroy the Supreme Court,' tweeted Tom Cotton, senator for Arkansas. 'The Democrats will do anything for power.'

Donald Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said increasing the size of the court was a terrible idea.


'The moderate left is gone,' he said.

'This is who they are now. Open borders. Outlawing voter ID. Free healthcare for illegal migrants. And now court packing.

'This should be roundly rejected.'  

The proposal, first reported by The Intercept, was always likely to spark strong protest from Republicans, who warned during the election that Joe Biden would try and change the court's composition.

'Who agrees that we should expand the Supreme Court?' tweeted Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the sponsor of the bill in the Senate.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (front, second from right) opposed increasing the number of justices

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (front, second from right) opposed increasing the number of justices

Mondaire Jones, who is sponsoring the bill through the House, tweeted: 'Our democracy is under assault, and the Supreme Court has dealt the sharpest blows. To restore power to the people, we must #ExpandTheCourt.' 

He added: 'Supreme Court expansion is infrastructure.' 

The Supreme Court is currently conservative leaning, with six conservative judges seated. Donald Trump appointed three: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett

The new plan is being promoted in the House by the Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jerry Nadler. He is backed by Subcommittee chair Hank Johnson, and freshman Jones. 

In the Senate, the bill is being championed by Markey. 

Changing the composition of the court requires a Senate sponsor, and Congressional approval. 

Biden: FDR's court packing scheme in 1937 is a corrupt power grab
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The number of justices on the Supreme Court is not specified by the Constitution.


Until 1869, the number regularly fluctuated depending on which political party was in power, and their aims.

Under John Adams there were five: under Abraham Lincoln there were 10.

Biden himself refused to say before the election what his position was. In 1995 described efforts to expand the Supreme Court as 'boneheaded'.

But, under pressure from progressives within his party, he said last week that he was forming a special commission to investigate the issue. 

The formation of a 36-member commission was announced by the White House on April 9. 

Biden's move was called a 'power grab', and a 'move by the radical left when they can't get what they want'.

Jerry Nadler is reportedly leading the push in the House to change the composition of the court
Mondaire Jones, representing New York, is part of the push to change the Court

Jerry Nadler (left) and Mondaire Jones are leading the push to change the Court in the House

Hank Johnson, of the House Judiciary Committee, is also promoting the new legislation
Ed Markey, a senator for Massachusetts, is leading the charge to change the Court via the Senate

Hank Johnson (left) is also promoting the bill in the House, and Ed Markey in the Senate

Joe Biden established a presidential commission to examine expanding the Supreme Court

Joe Biden established a presidential commission to examine expanding the Supreme Court


The move follows months of debate over whether Democrats should seek to expand the court beyond nine justices - a number that hasn't changed since Abraham Lincoln was president.

Biden's move would essentially wipe out the conservative 6-3 majority Trump brought in.  

The six conservatives on the court are Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, appointed by Trump; Samuel Alito, appointed by George W. Bush; and Clarence Thomas and John Roberts, both appointed by George H.W. Bush.

Barack Obama appointed two liberals - Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The third liberal, Stephen Breyer, was appointed by Bill Clinton.

The announcement came as progressive groups launched a campaign demanding Breyer, 82, resign for saying there shouldn't be more justices on the bench. 

Some are also urging Breyer to consider retiring so that Biden can appoint another liberal to the bench. 

Republicans, including their Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, and Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, say the steps are what the 'radical left' does when they don't get their way. 

McConnell added: 'When they (Democrats) lose a presidential election, it's time to abolish the Electoral College. 

'And when activists' cases fall flat against the rule of law, it's time to ignore Justices Ginsburg and Breyer and pack the Supreme Court.'

Even Biden has previous said bids to pack the court with more liberal judges were a 'power grab'. 

In 2005 he called it a 'bonehead idea'.  

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last year, once said: 'There are some people on the Democratic side who would like to increase the number of judges. I think that was a bad idea…if anything would make the court appear partisan.'

Biden's executive order creates a commission composed of a bipartisan group of experts, including legal and judicial scholars, former administration officials and former federal judges, the White House said in a statement. 

Biden's commission will be led by Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel for Obama, and Cristina Rodriguez, a Yale Law School professor who served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel under Obama. 

Among the members are Michelle Adams, who was was recently in Netflix documentary 'Amend: The Fight for America' about the 14th Amendment, Guy-Uriel E. Charles, who writes about law's role in addressing racial subordination, and constitutional law professor William Baude.   

Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican representing Nebraska, said: 'This progressive court packing commission is going nowhere fast. 

'President Biden knows that he doesn't even have the votes in his own party to pack the court; he knows that court packing is a non-starter with the American people; and he knows that this commission's report is just going to be a taxpayer-funded door stopper. 

'What the President doesn't have his the courage to come out and flatly tell the radical left that he's not going to pack the Supreme Court.'

Republican congressman Jim Jordan said bluntly: 'Why study something we already know? Democrats want to pack the Supreme Court.'  

Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said: 'Joe Biden and the radical left will destroy our institutions to seize power. 

'This means eradicating the electoral college and the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court.' 

The Article 3 Project, a group that defends constitutionalist judges and 'punches back on racial assaults on judicial independence', said in a statement: 'This is an alarming announcement from President Biden that should be met with the harshest of denunciations from both sides of the aisle. 

'Packing the Supreme Court would destroy centuries of hard work from Democrat- and Republican-appointed justices to insulate the high court from partisan politics. It also raises serious red flags as to what unconstitutional actions President Biden is planning that a more favorable Supreme Court might tolerate.

'Just this week, Justice Breyer joined the late Justice Ginsburg in rejecting court packing. This isn't a right versus left issue. 

'This is a matter of protecting the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and safeguarding our constitutional republic from irreversible damage.

'We hope this commission is simply an empty gesture to the radical left. 

'But there is real danger in President Biden giving credibility to the idea of court packing; he is playing with fire and threatening the constitutional foundation of this country. 

'He should have the wisdom and enough self respect to recognize that any attempt to pack the Supreme Court would be rejected by Congress and would be an ugly stain on his legacy, just as it was for the last president who tried it.'

The Supreme Court building in Washington DC, seen on March 4 amid tight security

The Supreme Court building in Washington DC, seen on March 4 amid tight security

Even some on the left criticized the decision. 

Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice, a liberal advocacy group that supports expanding the court and term limits for justices, said in a statement: 'A commission made up mostly of academics, that includes far-right voices and is not tasked with making formal recommendations, is unlikely to meaningfully advance the ball on Court reform.'

But others seemed willing to give it a chance. 

'With five justices appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, it's crucial that we consider every option for wresting back political control of the Supreme Court,' said Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, a liberal judicial advocacy group.

'President Biden's commission demonstrates a strong commitment to studying this situation and taking action.' 

'The moderate left is gone': Republicans line up to condemn Dems' plan to introduce a bill to pack Supreme Court with four new justices - erasing the GOP majority 'The moderate left is gone': Republicans line up to condemn Dems' plan to introduce a bill to pack Supreme Court with four new justices - erasing the GOP majority Reviewed by CUZZ BLUE on April 15, 2021 Rating: 5

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