Buttigieg Backs Democrats’ Extreme Court-Packing Gambit

It’s a day that ends in “y,” which means yet another high-ranking Democrat is backing his party’s extreme proposal to pack the Supreme Court with left-wing ideologues.

Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg threw his support behind the radical power-grab while speaking at a Rainbow PUSH Coalition event on Thursday. In his remarks to attendees, the prospective 2028 Democrat presidential contender accused SCOTUS of acting in a “rogue” fashion and “eviscerat[ing] the Voting Rights Act” by upholding the Constitution.

The comments are seemingly in response to the high court’s recent Louisiana v. Callais decision, which deemed Louisiana’s drawing of a second majority-black congressional district to be an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander.” The ruling more notably kneecapped states’ ability to engage in race-based redistricting — a strategy favored by Democrats to draw districts in their party’s favor.

After his unhinged screed about Callais, Buttigieg was asked by the event moderator for his thoughts on “some really progressive ideas” about how to handle “that rogue Supreme Court.” He more specifically pressed Buttigieg on the proposal to “increas[e] the number of justices” as a way of getting rulings that Democrats favor.

Without hesitation, the former Transportation secretary appeared to fully endorse the plan.

“Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that there have to be nine Supreme Court justices,” Buttigieg said to applause from the audience. “That one doesn’t even take a constitutional amendment. It just takes a readiness to set up a court that fits this country.”

The potential 2028 contender went on to echo disingenuous arguments by fellow Democrats that packing the court with four new justices would allow it to have one justice per federal circuit court, which the justices are tasked with overseeing. He further argued that implementing such a plan would create a “process that makes it less partisan.”

“We cannot have partisan warfare every time there’s an opening on the court,” Buttigieg said, while ignoring his party’s reputation for engaging in such damaging antics. “So, I think term limits would help, but I don’t think they go far enough.”

The comments were hardly the first instance in which Buttigieg has espoused support for packing the court to achieve partisan ends.

The Indiana native made court-packing a “central” component of his failed 2020 presidential campaign. As described by NBC News, Buttigieg’s proposal sought to increase the number of justices to 15, “with five affiliated with Democrats, five affiliated with Republicans, and five apolitical justices chosen by the first 10.”

Buttigieg would later go on to defend his plan during a 2019 primary debate. The Hill noted how he was “the only Democratic presidential candidate on the debate stage … to explicitly endorse court packing as way to prevent Roe v. Wade from being overturned.”

While Democrat calls to pack the Supreme Court went dormant upon President Trump’s return to office, the party has turned to openly embracing the radical scheme since Callais‘ release. In the past several weeks, figures from former Vice President Kamala Harris to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have thrown their weight behind such efforts.

In a bid to protect its integrity, the House Judiciary Committee voted last week to pass a constitutional amendment proposal to keep the high court at nine justices. Every single Democrat in attendance voted against it.

Constitutional amendments require passage by at least two-thirds of the House and Senate and three-fourths of states in order to be ratified.