{"id":2321761,"date":"2024-08-09T07:17:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T11:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-packing-democrats-would-turn-america-into-venezuela\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T07:22:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T11:22:45","slug":"court-packing-democrats-would-turn-america-into-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-packing-democrats-would-turn-america-into-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"Court-Packing Democrats Would Turn America Into Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-packing-democrats-would-turn-america-into-venezuela%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2321761&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u200barticle discusses the escalating attacks from the \u200bpolitical\u2064 left on the independence of the Supreme Court in \u200bthe United States over the past four years, particularly in light of recent proposals from \u2062President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. These proposals, which suggest court-packing and limiting the powers of senior justices, draw parallels to the actions of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who manipulated the judiciary to solidify \u2064his dictatorship. <\/p>\n<p>Historically, attempts to \u2064alter the composition of the Supreme Court, such as President Franklin Roosevelt&#8217;s \u2063in the 1930s, were seen\u200d as\u200c unacceptable and were\u200d rebuffed, even by members of \u2064his own\u200d party. The piece highlights that since the \u200bappointment of three conservative \u2063justices by President Trump, Democrats have increasingly sought to undermine the court&#8217;s independence, \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-says-white-house-continues-to-encourage-peaceful-protesting-outside-justices-homes\/\" title=\"Psaki Says White House Continues \u2018To Encourage\u2019 Peaceful Protesting Outside Justices\u2019 Homes\">including threats made<\/a> by prominent\u2064 figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.<\/p>\n<p>The article warns\u200b that Biden&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-rep-jordan-demands-receipts-after-biden-dojs-refusal-to-prosecute-threats-against-supreme-court\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Jordan Demands Receipts After Biden DOJ\u2019s Refusal To Prosecute Threats Against Supreme Court\">court-packing proposal<\/a>, which suggests adding\u2063 justices and limiting terms, could lead to a loss of judicial independence and the rule of law, \u200creminiscent of \u2063Venezuela&#8217;s descent into authoritarianism. \u200cChavez&#8217;s judicial manipulation resulted in a Supreme \u200dCourt that favored the government in all cases, ultimately enabling him to control the economy and eliminate opposition.\u200b The warning is clear: undermining the judiciary can lead\u200b to the erosion \u2063of democratic\u2064 freedoms and practices.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-contributor-suggests-democrats-should-focus-their-criticism-on-trump-2\/\" title=\"CNN contributor suggests Democrats should focus their criticism on Trump\">left&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s attacks on an independent Supreme Court over the past four years have only ratcheted upward. With Vice President and Democrat presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris&rsquo; embrace of President Joe Biden&rsquo;s recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/biden-calls-supreme-court-term-limits-code-conduct-limits-presidential-immunity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">push<\/a> to both pack the court and strip the most senior justices of power, we are facing a real possibility that the United States will descend into the chaos and lawlessness of Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p>After Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez packed the court in 2004, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled exclusively in favor of the government in more than 45,000 cases. Court-packing is a recipe for a dictatorship, even here in the United States.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since the 1930s, when President Franklin Roosevelt unsuccessfully tried to add six justices to the Supreme Court to make the court rule in favor of his New Deal legislative program, court-packing has been a red line in the United States. Even the overwhelmingly Democrat-controlled United States Senate at the time <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Senate-Judiciary-Committee-Report-on-1937-Court-Packing-Legislation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rebuked<\/a> FDR&rsquo;s brazen effort to destroy an independent Supreme Court.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But with the election of President Donald Trump in 2016 and his appointment of three justices that changed the direction of the historically left-wing Supreme Court, Democrats have attacked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/justice-alito-moves-up-deadline-for-supreme-court-briefing-in-pennsylvania-lawsuit-to-flip-the-election\/\" title=\"Justice Alito Moves Up Deadline For Supreme Court Briefing in Pennsylvania Lawsuit to Flip the Election\">court&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s decisions and sought to undermine the court&rsquo;s independence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stood on the steps of the court in March 2020 while the justices were hearing oral arguments on an abortion-related case and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JCNSeverino\/status\/1798369120351846493\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threatened<\/a> two justices by name with violence if they voted against the pro-abortion side: &ldquo;I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won&rsquo;t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Schumer&rsquo;s chilling and unprecedented comments and similar comments by his allies in leftist-funded groups and the media preceded a would-be assassin going to the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in June 2022 to kill the justice. It was clear that nothing less than the court ruling as the Democrats demanded would quell the left&rsquo;s thirst to control the court&rsquo;s decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Biden&rsquo;s dangerous court-packing proposal, though not laid out in detail, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/biden-calls-supreme-court-term-limits-code-conduct-limits-presidential-immunity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appears to be based<\/a> on Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/senate-bill\/3096\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bill<\/a>, which would add an additional nine justices to the court, with the president appointing a justice every two years. It would also strip the most senior justices of the ability to participate in the vast majority of cases that come before the court, and by its operations limit justices to 18-year terms of active service.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Though this plan is <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MarkPaoletta\/status\/1818061127865033140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unconstitutional<\/a>, its purpose is to immediately sideline Justice Clarence Thomas, the court&rsquo;s most faithful originalist, and then Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. The net result will be to destroy the Supreme Court&rsquo;s independence and the rule of law &mdash; and the protection of our liberties enshrined in the Constitution for the past 248 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Which brings us back to the Venezuelan catastrophe. Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1999, and after the Venezuelan high court repeatedly ruled against Chavez and his administration, Chavez pushed through a law in 2004 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/court-packing-venezuela-latin-america-reality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">increase the number<\/a> of justices on the Supreme Court from 20 to 32, and then he appointed 12 new justices.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chavez&rsquo;s takeover of the Supreme Court was complete. A well-regarded <a href=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/elpais\/2014\/12\/12\/inenglish\/1418411741_236380.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> found that from 2004 until 2014, the Venezuela Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government every single time, out of 45,474 cases. After he packed the court, Chavez began to confiscate thousands of businesses. As Antonio Canova, a constitutional law professor in Venezuela and the study&rsquo;s lead author, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/court-packing-venezuela-latin-america-reality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a>, &ldquo;[Chavez] basically took over the entire economy.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Once Chavez crossed the red line on meddling with an independent Supreme Court, it was easy for his hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, to further rig the court. After the Venezuelan people rebuked Maduro&rsquo;s policies in 2015 by voting in a legislature opposed to the government&rsquo;s socialist policies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/court-packing-venezuela-latin-america-reality\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maduro rammed<\/a> through the appointments of 13 justices to replace soon-to-be retiring justices. That newly constituted court began stripping the legislature of its powers and ruling that Maduro could take action without getting legislative approval.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela may be the most well-known example of the dangers of court-packing, but a Human Rights Watch 2004 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2004\/06\/21\/court-packing-law-threatens-venezuelan-democracy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">op-ed<\/a> on Chavez&rsquo;s court-packing also pointed to Peruvian and Argentinian presidents interfering with the courts in the 1990s by packing their respective courts with additional judges, firing them, or denying the judges tenure to control the outcomes of cases. It did not end well for both countries. Seeking to control the outcome of cases, by court-packing or other means, inevitably leads to the erosion of the rule of law, destruction of the economy, and out-of-control crime.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to the Washington Examiner, Schumer has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3108791\/schumer-signals-supreme-court-blitz-coming-democrats-win-big-november\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promised<\/a> that if the Democrats win the presidency and both chambers of Congress, they plan &ldquo;to roll out major overhauls&rdquo; to the court, which will certainly obliterate the court&rsquo;s independence. Based on the judges the Biden-Harris administration has appointed to the federal judiciary, that means a court that will rubberstamp laws and executive actions that destroy disfavored businesses, silence any dissent of governmental action, confiscate firearms, let criminals and illegal aliens run free, and take away your religious liberties.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Biden-Harris court-packing plan will destroy America as we know it. The Supreme Court&rsquo;s independence must be protected. Just ask the people of Venezuela.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Mark Paoletta served as a lawyer in the George H.W. Bush White House Counsel&rsquo;s office and worked on the confirmation of Justice Thomas.  He served as General Counsel of the Office of Management &amp; Budget during the Trump Adminstration. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The left&#8217;s criticism of an independent Supreme Court has intensified over the last four years. With Vice President and likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris supporting President Joe Biden&#8217;s recent initiatives to expand the court and diminish the authority of its most senior justices, there is a genuine risk that the United States could spiral into chaos similar to that of Venezuela. Following Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez&#8217;s court-packing in 2004, the Supreme Court consistently ruled in favor of the government in over 45,000 cases. This tactic is a pathway to dictatorship, even within our own country.<\/p>\n<p>Since Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s unsuccessful attempt in the 1930s to add six justices to sway decisions towards his New Deal policies, court-packing has been considered unacceptable in America. Even during FDR\u2019s time, when Democrats held significant power in Congress, his efforts were met with strong opposition aimed at preserving judicial independence.<\/p>\n<p>However, after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 and appointed three justices who shifted the historically liberal Supreme Court&#8217;s balance, Democrats have increasingly attacked its rulings and sought ways to undermine its autonomy. In March 2020, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made alarming threats against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh while they were hearing an abortion case: \u201cI want to tell you\u2026 you have released the whirlwind\u2026 You won\u2019t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.\u201d Such intimidating remarks from Schumer and others preceded an assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh.<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s proposed plan for court-packing lacks detailed explanation but seems aligned with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse\u2019s bill that would add nine new justices while limiting senior justices&#8217; participation in most cases and capping their terms at 18 years. Although this proposal is unconstitutional, it aims primarily at sidelining Justice Clarence Thomas\u2014an originalist\u2014and subsequently targeting Justices Alito and Roberts. The ultimate effect would be a significant erosion of judicial independence and rule of law\u2014threatening liberties protected by our Constitution for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.<\/p>\n<p>This situation echoes Venezuela&#8217;s tragic experience under Hugo Chavez who was elected president in 1999; after facing repeated unfavorable rulings from his high court he expanded it from 20 to 32 members by appointing twelve new justices through legislation passed in 2004. A study revealed that between then and 2014, every ruling favored Chavez\u2019s government out of more than forty-five thousand cases\u2014a clear indication that he had effectively taken control over judicial proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Once Chavez crossed this critical line regarding judicial independence it became easier for Nicolas Maduro\u2014his successor\u2014to further manipulate the courts following public disapproval expressed through elections against socialist policies. After losing legislative support in a vote during which voters opposed Maduro\u2019s agenda he swiftly appointed thirteen new judges who began stripping powers from lawmakers while allowing him unilateral action without legislative consent.<\/p>\n<p>While Venezuela serves as a prominent example illustrating risks associated with court-packing other nations like Peru and Argentina faced similar fates when their leaders interfered with judiciary systems during past decades leading ultimately toward economic decline alongside increased crime rates due largely because attempts were made seeking favorable outcomes via manipulation or intimidation tactics directed towards judges themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Accordingly reports indicate Schumer has pledged major reforms targeting courts should Democrats regain control across both executive branches along congressional chambers which would undoubtedly compromise any remaining semblance of impartiality within judiciary structures established throughout American history thus paving way for unchecked governmental actions infringing upon individual rights including religious freedoms among others\u2014all reminiscent again perhaps too closely resembling conditions seen previously elsewhere such as those experienced now currently ongoing within Venezuela itself today! <\/p>\n<p>Mark Paoletta served as counsel under George H.W Bush administration worked on confirming Justice Thomas also held position General Counsel Office Management Budget during Trump era currently affiliated Center Renewing America think tank focused issues surrounding governance reformations necessary protect constitutional principles upheld since inception founding documents guiding nation forward future generations ahead!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":739,"featured_media":2321762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Schumer-Rally-U.S.-Capitol.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[36440,3685,14099],"class_list":["post-2321761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-court-packing","tag-democrats","tag-venezuela"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Schumer-Rally-U.S.-Capitol.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}