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April 21, 2021 | Research
Democrat Fails, Hypocrisy, and Lies

Democrats’ Court Packing Hypocrisy

Research

For Years, Democrats Including Joe Biden Decried Court Packing As Dangerous; Now They’re Attempting A Partisan Power Grab

DEMOCRATS ARE EMBRACING RADICAL COURT PACKING EFFORTS

  • Instead of respecting the independence of the judiciary, Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats are now pushing radical court-packing schemes.
    • This month, Biden unveiled a commission to study the possible expansion of the Supreme Court.
    • Last week, Democrats introduced legislation to expand the Court from nine to thirteen justices.

BIDEN PREVIOUSLY CALLED COURT PACKING “A BONEHEAD IDEA,” “DAMAGING,” AND A “POWER GRAB”

  • Biden in 1983: FDR’s attempts to pack the Court were “a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make. And it put in question, if for an entire decade, the independence of the most significant body … in this country, the Supreme Court of the United States of America."
  • Biden in 2005: “In this environment, Roosevelt — I remember this old adage about power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely — corrupted by power, in my view, unveiled his court-packing plan … It took an act of courage on the part of his own party institutionally to stand up against this power grab.”
  • Biden in 2019: “I would not get into court packing … we begin to lose any credibility the court has at all.”
  • Biden in 2019: “No, I’m not prepared to go on and try to pack the court, because we’ll live to rue that day.”
  • Biden in 2020: “It raises problems that are more damaging than the problem that exists.”

THE LAST FOUR TOP DEMOCRATS ON THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ALL OPPOSED COURT PACKING

SENATE AND HOUSE DEMOCRATS SLAMMED COURT PACKING FOR YEARS AS “POLARIZ[ING]” AND “A TERRIBLE PATH,” ASKING “WHERE DOES IT STOP?”

  • Former Sen. Harry Reid: “We better be very, very careful in saying that we need to expand the Supreme Court. I think we better be very, very careful."
  • Michael Bennet: “I don’t think the American people have been prepared to expand the Supreme Court. I think it would meet with the same fate as when Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court.”
  • Cory Booker: “We have a long tradition of nine jurists, and we should be very sober before we start tinkering with things like that.”
  • John Hickenlooper: “I’m concerned by the precedent this could set … As President I could add five seats but the next Republican president might then add six more.”
  • Joe Manchin: “With packing the courts, I’m not voting for that.”
  • Jon Ossoff: “We shouldn’t expand the Supreme Court just because a justice may be confirmed with whom we disagree on policy.”
  • Bernie Sanders: “I think [court packing] is not the ultimate solution.”
  • Kyrsten Sinema’s spokeswoman said “Senator Sinema opposes court-packing.”
  • Jon Tester: “Where does it stop?”
  • Ro Khanna: “I think if you try to expand [the Supreme Court] right now, that’s going to further polarize and tear apart this country.”
  • Andy Kim: “[Court packing] doesn’t really sound like something that I would want to see done … I believe deeply in our institutions of government. It is something we have to be very careful about, when we change these institutions, when we think about these types of efforts.”
  • Tim Ryan: “No. No, I think the Supreme Court should stay at nine.”
  • Eric Swalwell: “No … I don’t want to use expanding the Supreme Court or getting rid of the electoral college as an alibi for failing to go to places where we need to win.”
  • Former Rep. John Delaney: “I kind of think these norms actually matter … court packing goes against that and it just leads you down this terrible path where each side then does it and where does it end.”
  • Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke: “I don’t know that expanding the size of the Supreme Court is the best way to address legitimate concerns we have with its objectivity given the issues it will decide.”
  • Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: “Simply expanding the numbers of Supreme Court justices we have doesn’t solve the problem … could actually end up making it worse.”
  • Julian Castro: “I don’t believe that expanding the size of the Supreme Court is the answer.”
  • New York Mayor Bill de Blasio: “I do not think expanding the Supreme Court makes sense.”