{"id":430517,"date":"2021-04-16T15:15:27","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T19:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=430517"},"modified":"2021-04-16T15:15:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T19:15:33","slug":"14-times-democrats-admitted-court-packing-is-a-terrible-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/14-times-democrats-admitted-court-packing-is-a-terrible-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Times Democrats Admitted Court-Packing Is A Terrible Idea"},"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\">18<\/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%2F14-times-democrats-admitted-court-packing-is-a-terrible-idea%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=430517&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2403.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>This month, Democrats in both chambers of Congress have made clear their intention of expanding the Supreme Court, with the clear intention of swinging the Court\u2019s sphere of influence away from conservatives and back towards the Left. But while Democrats increasingly support such a proposal, it wasn\u2019t long ago that leaders in the party strongly opposed the idea.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 14 times Democrats said court-packing was an idea they could not get behind.<\/p>\n<p><b>1. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) warned that Congress needed to be \u201cvery, very careful\u201d when considering court packing.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think it\u2019s \u2014 we should be very, very careful in doing so. I have no problem with the commission, but I think that the commission is going to come back and disappoint a lot of people because I think they\u2019re going to come back and say, we should just kind of leave it alone,\u201d<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/harry-reid-warns-biden-against-packing-supreme-court-we-better-be-very-very-careful\"> <span>The Daily Wire<\/span><\/a><span> reported. \u201cI think it would be inappropriate at this time after that long history we\u2019ve had in the country [to] have term limits for judges. I think that we better be very, very careful in saying that we need to expand the Supreme Court. I think we better be very, very, careful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>2. Earlier this month, Justice Stephen Breyer warned about the politics of court-packing.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/liberal-supreme-court-justice-warns-on-court-packing-will-diminish-confidence-in-court-rule-of-law\"><span>The Daily Wire<\/span><\/a><span> reported, Breyer explained the Court\u2019s power is dependent on \u201ca trust that the court is guided by legal principle, not politics. Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that perception, further eroding that trust.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>3. In early 2020, then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) warned that court-packing is a way of slapping a \u201cband-aid\u201d on a problem, not fixing it.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSimply expanding the numbers [sic] of Supreme Court justices that we have doesn\u2019t solve the problem,\u201d Gabbard<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewSolender\/status\/1226284005043122177?s=20\"> <span>told a crowd<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cI\u2019m a big believer in actually understanding the problem we\u2019re trying to solve first so that we can come up with a solution that deals with it and not just put a band-aid on it or throw something out there that not only doesn\u2019t solve the problem but could actually end up making it worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>4. Joe Biden said in 2020 that court-packing would be \u201cdamaging\u201d to our society.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>He said he did not favor \u201cstructural changes,\u201d like eliminating the filibuster and packing the Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat structural change requires Constitutional amendments. It raises more problems that are damaging than the problem that exists,\u201d he told <a href=\"https:\/\/grabien.com\/getmedia.php?id=1046597&amp;key=a60fb7b355154beb024c517bffc214f3\">The Weekly<\/a>. \u201cThe reason [the Founding Fathers] gave judges a lifetime tenure, you know why.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>5. In a 2020 presidential campaign event, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) said court-packing \u201cis not the ultimate solution.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIn terms of the Supreme Court, here is my concern about expanding the numbers of the Supreme Court, say if the Democrats are in the position to do that. What my worry is that the next time the Republicans are in power they will do the same thing,\u201d Sanders<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/grabien.com\/getmedia.php?id=1046615&amp;key=803e3c8f6d58a994abb50742f182981a\"> <span>explained<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cSo I think that is not the ultimate solution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>6. During a segment on \u201cReal Time With Bill Maher\u201d in 2019, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) expressed concern over the idea of court-packing.&nbsp;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhere does it stop?\u201d Tester<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ssSecquxZ0U\"> <span>asked.<\/span><\/a><span> \u201cSo we go from nine to 15? And next to 27 and so on?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>7. In 2019, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he opposes court-packing because it would create \u201can arms race\u201d between the two political parties.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI am not, I do not think expanding the Supreme Court makes sense, and I\u2019ll tell you why: because of history. I admire so greatly Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but he tried it and it backfired in so many ways. I think there are some things we have to say are set, and then we have to work politically to make the changes we need,\u201d de Blasio told<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/us\/politics\/supreme-court-democratic-candidates.html?mtrref=www.washingtonpost.com&amp;assetType=REGIWALL#deblasio\"> <span>The New York Times<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cI think at this point in history, the best way to change America is through the electoral process, and that will very rapidly change our judiciary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt will take longer with the Supreme Court but I worry that we end up in a kind of arms race if one administration increases the size of the Court for their ends and then another party comes into power and increases it again,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t find that good for the country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>8. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in 2019 that she opposed packing the Court as a \u201csolution\u201d to what she saw as a \u201ctemporary situation.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI have heard that there are some people on the Democratic side who would like to increase the number of judges. I think that was a bad idea when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to pack the Court. His plan was for every justice who stays on the Court past the age of 70, the president would have authority to nominate another justice. If that plan had been effective, the Court\u2019s number would have swelled immediately from nine to 15 and the president would have six appointments to make,\u201d she explained during an interview with<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TCPigott\/status\/1382529042906222594?s=20\"> <span>NPR<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c\u2026 if anything, it would make the Court appear partisan, it would be that, one side saying, \u2018When we\u2019re in power, we\u2019re going to enlarge the number of judges so we have more people who vote the way we want them to,\u201d RBG said. \u201cSo I am not at all in favor of that solution to what I see as a temporary situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>9. During a debate in 2019, Joe Biden said he wasn\u2019t \u201cinto court-packing.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI would not get into court-packing. We had three justices, next time around we lose control, they add three justices,\u201d Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/grabien.com\/getmedia.php?id=1046295&amp;key=5400d59614e5f0b121bfb88cc467e216\">explained<\/a>. \u201cWe begin to lose any credibility the Court has at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>10. In 2019, Former Congressman John Delaney (D-MD) said there are \u201csome norms\u201d that need to be \u201crespected\u201d and one of those is the make up of the Supreme Court.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf we pack the court, guess what happens when Republicans are in control? They pack the court,\u201d Delaney told<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/hilltv\/rising\/436880-delaney-warns-against-court-packing-gop-will-pack-the-courts-when-theyre-in\"> <span>The Hill TV.<\/span><\/a><span> \u201cI kind of think these norms actually matter. Right? I think our society and the success of this extraordinary country was based on this notion that there was some respect for basic norms. 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?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>11. Then-Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) disagreed with calls to pack the Court in 2018.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSeventy-five years ago, we went through this,\u201d Durbin said at the time, according to the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/weekly-standard\/what-do-senate-democrats-think-about-packing-the-supreme-court\"> <span>Washington Examiner.<\/span><\/a><span> \u201cAnd I think the Congress was correct in stopping this popular president named Franklin Roosevelt from that idea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>12. In 2018, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) worried about \u201ctinkering\u201d with the Court.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe have a long tradition of nine jurists, and we should be very sober before we start tinkering with things like that,\u201d Booker said about his colleagues\u2019 proposals, the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/weekly-standard\/what-do-senate-democrats-think-about-packing-the-supreme-court\"> <span>Washington Examiner<\/span><\/a><span> reported.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>13. In 2005, then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-VT) said President Roosevelt\u2019s attempt to pack the Court was a \u201cpower grab\u201d based on corruption.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe Senate again stood firm in \u201937 in the court-packing attempt\u2026 Roosevelt had just come off a landslide victory over Alf Landon. He had a Congress made up of solid New Dealers but the nine old men of the Court were thwarting his agenda. In this environment Roosevelt \u2014 and remember this old addage about \u2018power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely\u2019 \u2014 <\/span><span>corrupted by power in my view, unveiled his court-packing plan,\u201d Biden<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/grabien.com\/getmedia.php?id=1046269&amp;key=17b09022974e7dbc1abc7e64a7a835ea\"> <span>recounted.<\/span><\/a><span> \u201cHe wanted to increase the number of justices to 15, allowing himself to nominate those additional judges.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt took an act of courage on the part of his own party, institutionally, to stand up against this power grab,\u201d the senator said. He reminded his colleagues that those on the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time Roosevelt was in power were New Dealers who supported the president\u2019s agenda. Despite that, they disagreed with packing the Court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Biden said history will look on the Senate to conclude whether they were \u201cstatesman\u201d who put the institution of the Supreme Court \u201cabove party and politics\u201d or as \u201cpoliticians bending to the will of the executive and to political expediency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>14. In 1983, then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-VT) said it was a \u201cbonehead\u201d idea for President Roosevelt to attempt to pack the Court.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Roosevelt clearly had the right to send to the United States Senate and the United States Congress a proposal to pack the Court. It was totally within his right to do that. He violated no law. He was legalistically, absolutely correct,\u201d Biden said at the time, according to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/joe-biden-once-called-court-packing-bonehead-idea-terrible-terrible-mistake-1583763\"> <span>Newsweek<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cBut it was a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make. And it put in question, for an entire decade, the independence of the most significant body\u2014including the Congress included in my view\u2014in this country, the Supreme Court of the United States of America.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What suddenly changed their take on the Court? Is it the fact that it\u2019s more conservative leaning? Or is it that \u201cOrange Man Bad\u201d had three nominations confirmed? Maybe it\u2019s the fact that President Trump replaced Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg \u2014 the feminist titan \u2014 with Justice Amy Coney Barrett?<\/p>\n<p>Either way, the Democrats current position is, in many ways, a complete 180 from what they have said in the past. Packing the Court is still a dangerous precedent that would cause a never-ending cycle of expansion. The Constitution doesn\u2019t limit how many justices sit on the Supreme Court, meaning additions could, theoretically, take place for all eternity, unless Congress passes a constitutional amendment solidifying the number of justices.<\/p>\n<p><em>Beth Baumann is a Political Reporter and Editor at The Daily Wire. Follow her on Twitter&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/eb454\">@eb454<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>member<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month, Democrats in both chambers of Congress have made clear their intention of expanding the Supreme Court, with the clear intention of swinging the Court\u2019s sphere of influence away &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312317,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2403.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"14 Times Democrats Admitted Court-Packing Is A Terrible Idea","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2403.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"14 Times Democrats Admitted Court-Packing Is A Terrible Idea","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430517","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}