On Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that there are a “variety of different options that are on the table,” and that Democrats “can’t foreclose on any single one of them.”
Democrats in Congress are exploring a range of proposals to reform the Supreme Court as frustration with the court’s recent rulings have increased ahead of the midterm elections.
Calls for Supreme Court reform intensified following the court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion policy to the states. The court has since issued several other decisions opposed by Democrats, including rulings ending race-based admissions programs at colleges, rejecting President Joe Biden’s attempt to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt, and narrowing the portion of the Voting Rights Act.
Now, Democrats are considering a range of potential changes to the court. Democrats in Congress have introduced roughly a dozen proposals in recent months addressing Supreme Court reform. The suggestions include requiring justices to place certain financial assets into blind trusts and establishing standards governing the court’s emergency docket.
Here are some of their plans if they take back Congress in November.
Justice Term Limits
“There’s constant and building dismay about the increasingly appalling record of the court,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse told the Washington Post. “And I think the continuing interest in reform springs from continued dismay and concern about the court’s misbehavior.”
Whitehouse has introduced legislation that would establish 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices, with appointments staggered over time.
Usually, justices are appointed for the rest of their lives unless they choose to step down.
Court Packing
Another proposal backed by Democrats in both the House and Senate would expand the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13. The number of justices on the court has traditionally been nine. A similar plan was proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he tried to push through his “New Deal” programs, but the plan was rejected by Congress.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly said she believes the Supreme Court should be expanded, arguing that the size should reflect the number of federal circuit courts. Texas Senate candidate James Talarico has made Supreme Court reform part of his campaign, calling for term limits.
"Black Texans, black Americans, have been ringing the alarm about the Supreme Court,” Talarico said. “And I think it’s time for all of us to realize the crisis that we face on the highest court in this country.”
On Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that there are a “variety of different options that are on the table,” and that Democrats “can’t foreclose on any single one of them.”
Republicans have strongly opposed proposals to change the structure of the Supreme Court, arguing that Democrats are attempting to uproot longstanding institutional norms within the federal government solely because they disagree with the outcomes.
“All of these ‘reforms’ are because the left doesn’t like the decisions coming out of the Court,” Mike Fragoso, former chief counsel to Mitch McConnell, told the Washington Post. “The goal is to intimidate the Court into changing the course of decisions. It’s reprehensible.”
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