During a virtual address to the Brookings Institute, former Attorney General Eric Holder challenged Democrats to use their advantage in the House and Senate to pack the U.S. Supreme Court. If controlling the legislative and executive branches of government wasn’t enough, Holder appears ready to help make space to add some leftists to the court for an additional advantage.
In his remarks, Holder noted, “It is necessary and totally appropriate to add seats.” For someone who is a trained lawyer, these comments are far from the truth.
First, how is it “necessary” to pack the U.S. Supreme Court? There is not one shred of evidence to prove adding additional justices is somehow essential for the court to function properly in guiding the judicial branch of government. It is only necessary from the perspective of those who need a way to increase influence among a group where open spots are only available once every few years.
Second, how is adding additional Supreme Court justices “appropriate”? Not once has a legal case taken place to prove, for example, that 12 justices are more appropriate than nine. Again, the only way this change is appropriate is if your side is in the minority and you want to change the percentages in your favor.
Unlike presidential or Congressional elections, Supreme Court justices are not directly selected by American voters. No campaign or even corruption to sway votes can change the outcome of who is selected as a justice.
Instead, the President in power at the time of the Supreme Court justice opening nominates a qualified individual who must then be confirmed by the Senate. Under Trump’s leadership, three new justices were added. All three were conservative because of both Trump’s politics as well as the power held in the Senate by Republicans.
To flip the Supreme Court toward a more radical, leftist majority would require a Democrat President and a majority in the Senate. Welcome to 2021! However, Democrats are increasingly impatient, as there may not be another vacancy during Biden’s term. The only way to speed up the process is to change the rules.
Imagine if a Republican Attorney General publicly stated he or she wanted to change U.S. law to add additional Supreme Court justices while Republicans held power. Democrats would be ready to explode more violently than they have over Trump.
But if you’re a Democrat, you can apparently change the rules whenever you want. You become the playground bully who says, “I’m in charge now.” These Democrat bullies continue to make the rules, take our lunch money, and push Americans around to get whatever they want.
There’s only one problem with being a bully — you eventually tick off enough people that everyone turns against you, and you lose your power. Democrats may enjoy thoughts of packing the court for now, but there will soon be a day of reckoning when Americans have had enough and will choose new leadership that will actually follow the Constitution.
