Democrats are planning to introduce legislation to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court from 9 to 13
Democrats are planning to introduce legislation to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court from 9 to 13
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Democrats in Congress will introduce legislation on Thursday to increase the Supreme Court’s size from nine to thirteen justices, joining progressive activists in their efforts to change the court.

After President Donald Trump and Republicans appointed three conservative justices in four years, including one who was confirmed days before the 2020 election, the move intensifies a high-stakes ideological battle over the court’s future.

Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, are leading the Democratic bill. Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Mondaire Jones of New York are co-sponsoring the bill.

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The Supreme Court can be expanded by legislation passed by Congress, but given the Democrats’ slim majorities in Congress, which include a number of lawmakers who oppose the idea, the legislation is unlikely to become law anytime soon. President Joe Biden has stated that he is “not a fan” of the courtroom being packed.

But it reflects progressive rage at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for denying President Barack Obama’s nominee for a vacancy a vote in 2016, citing the upcoming election, before confirming Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett a week before the election last year.

The rage has spread throughout the Democratic Party, and the new push shows that it isn’t going away even though the party now controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.

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According to an advisory notice, progressive activists Aaron Belkin, the founder of Take Back the Court, Chris Kang, a co-founder and chief counsel of Demand Justice, and Meagan Hatcher-Mays of Indivisible will join the lawmakers to announce the bill’s introduction outside the Supreme Court building. The addition of justices is supported by all three groups.

“This bill ushers in a new era in which Democrats stop handing over the Supreme Court to Republicans,” said Brian Fallon, a former Senate Democratic leadership aide and co-founder of Demand Justice, who described the court as “broken and in need of reform.”

“Our job now is to create a grassroots movement that puts pressure on every Democrat in Congress to support this legislation because it is the only way to restore balance to the court and protect our democracy,” he said.

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Last week, Biden announced the formation of a commission comprised of liberals and conservatives to examine the Supreme Court’s structure, including the number of justices and their terms of office.

The Supreme Court’s size has fluctuated since its founding in 1789 but has remained at nine members since 1869.

McConnell has warned Democrats against adding seats to the Supreme Court, claiming that “nothing about the structure or operation of the judicial branch requires’study.'”

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September, and liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, both of whom expressed reservations about expanding the court, were quoted.

“President Biden campaigned on lowering the temperature and uniting a divided nation,” McConnell said last week in a statement. “If he truly believed it, he would stop giving life to a dangerous, out-of-date idea and confront the partisans who promote it.”

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