Republicans have slammed Joe Biden 's announcement of a commission to look into 'court-packing' as an 'assault on the j...
Republicans have slammed Joe Biden's announcement of a commission to look into 'court-packing' as an 'assault on the judiciary', a 'radical left' ploy and a 'brainless idea' to attack American institutions including the Constitution.
Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney led a list of GOP politicians and senior figures condemning the naming of a 36-strong board to look into increasing the number of judges and dismantling the conservative majority installed under Donald Trump.
They even pointed to Biden's own words when he called it a 'bonehead idea' in 1983 and Ruth Bader Ginsburg saying nine judge is enough.
The announcement came as progressive groups launched a campaign demanding Justice Stephen Breyer resign for saying there shouldn't be more justices on the bench.
Even though he now is proposing a commission to look at the idea of expanding the Supreme Court, Joe Biden in 1983, pictured above, called the idea 'boneheaded' when he was a senator
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has led the charge against the idea of expanding the court, saying it was 'more evidence of the far left's influence' on the Biden Administration. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also has been out front against the idea of court-packing, saying the idea would 'forever diminish the ideas at our foundation'
The Supreme Court has had nine justices on it since 1869 and the Constitution doesn't specify how many judges there should be. Any effort to alter it would be explosive, particularly at a moment when Congress is nearly evenly divided. Changing the number of justices would require congressional approval.
Mitch McConnell led the fury with a statement saying: '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.'
Mitt Romney tweeted: 'My Democrat friends decry the last president for weakening our institutions with his words and behavior but they now cheer the effort to pack the Supreme Court and end the Senate filibuster, which would forever diminish institutions at our Republic’s foundation.'
Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, say the steps are what the 'radical left' does when they don't get their way.
President Joe Biden established a presidential commission to examine expanding the Supreme Court
Even Biden in 2005 said bids to pack the court with more liberal judges were a 'power grab' and he once called it a 'bonehead idea'.
Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 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 signed an executive order creating a 36 member 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.
The backlash from senior Republicans was immediate.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said: 'Today's announcement is a direct assault on our nation's independent judiciary and yet another sign of the Far Left's influence over the Biden Administration.
'Rational observers know well there is nothing about the structure or operation of the judicial branch that requires "study."
'Constitutional scholars and the justices themselves have repeatedly affirmed the position of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "nine seems to be a good number."
'Justice Breyer said just this week that 'structural alteration' like court packing would mean 'eroding' the public's trust in the judiciary. And by overwhelming margins, the American people agree.
'At the same time, more and more elected Democrats have made open disdain for judicial independence a key part of their political platforms. A sitting Senator has personally threatened certain justices should they rule against liberal interests.
'Multiple Senate Democrats signed a threatening brief suggesting the Court needed to either deliver liberal rulings or face being 'restructured.' The President spent most of his campaign playing coy on the issue, but has now admitted from the safety of a four-year term that he views the judiciary as 'out of whack.'
'So anyone who was surprised by the creation of a commission on packing the Supreme Court simply hasn't been paying attention.
'This faux-academic study of a nonexistent problem fits squarely within liberals' years-long campaign to politicize the Court, intimidate its members, and subvert its independence.
'This is not some new, serious, or sober pivot away from Democrats' political attacks on the Court. It's just an attempt to clothe those ongoing attacks in fake legitimacy. It's disappointing that anyone, liberal or conservative, would lend credence to this attack by participating in the commission.
'Of course, this is just another example of the liberal preference for attacking norms and institutions, rather than working within them. When Democrats lose a floor vote, it's time to change Senate rules.
'When they 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.
'President Biden campaigned on a promise of lowering the temperature and uniting a divided nation. If he really meant it, he would stop giving oxygen to a dangerous, antiquated idea and stand up to the partisans hawking it.'
Republican Senator Ben Sasse 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.'
GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn 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.'
Republican congressman Mike Gallagher said: 'We don't need a commission to know that court packing is a radical idea that would destroy faith in the Supreme Court. Next week, I'll be reintroducing a constitutional amendment that would prevent this from happening by capping the court at nine justices.'
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.'
Some on the left even slammed 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 that: '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 power of the Supreme Court is laid out in Article 3 of the Constitution which reads: 'The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.'
It doesn't mention a specific amount of justices, but the number hasn't changed in 160 years.
The commission members are not tasked with giving Biden specific recommendations, but providing an analysis of a range of proposed changes to the court.
'Topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Court's role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court's case selection, rules, and practices,' the White House said.
The order 'directs that the Commission complete its report within 180 days of its first public meeting,' it added.
The panel has a mix of conservative and liberal members.
The commission's creation comes six months after the confirmation of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court following the September 20 death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a liberal icon.
Trump nominated Barrett days after Ginsberg's death, even though it was just weeks before the November 2020 election.
The confirmation process triggered outrage from many Democrats, who pointed to the Senate Republican leadership's refusal even to hold hearings for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick in early 2016, much less a vote, on grounds that it was too close to that year's November presidential election.
There have been nine justices on the Supreme Court since just after the Civil War - a 2018 photo of the Supreme Court justices. Biden's move would essentially wipe out the conservative 6-3 majority Donald Trump brought in when he successfully got Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett onto the bench
Meanwhile, the Progressive group Demand Justice launched a new 'Breyer Retire' campaign Friday urging Supreme Court Stephen Breyer to retire while Democrats control the Senate
Liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the former Supreme Court justice who died last summer, is said to have said nine was enough for the number of justice on the court
The Supreme Court could expand under a plan under consideration by a Biden commission
The Supreme Court has had nine justices since just after the Civil War. An attempt to add more judges would need to be approved by Congress. That would provoke a fierce Congressional battle on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, the Progressive group Demand Justice launched a new 'Breyer Retire' campaign Friday urging Supreme Court Stephen Breyer to 'retire now.
Progressives want the liberal-leaning justice to step down while Democrats narrowly have Senate control after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death resulted in President Trump choosing her successor, adding to the court's conservative majority.
The group launched an online petition and had a billboard truck drive around the Supreme Court on Friday to urge him to step down. Ginsburg ignored similar pressure from liberals toward the end of Obama's term.
In the past Biden has said he's 'not a fan' of adding justices to the bench. But the president told CBS' '60 Minutes' in October that he would create a commission. He has refused to say either way if he would pack the court, as Republican critics call it.
'I will ask them to, over 180 days, come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system, because it's getting out of whack,' he said.
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