Credit: Axios
Senator Ted Cruz from Texas is leading a group of Republican senators in introducing a constitutional amendment that would stop any attempt by a future president of Congress to pack the United States Supreme Court.
Cruz’s proposed amendment states, “the Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices.”
The amendment is co-sponsored by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., John Kennedy, R-La., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Mike Braun, R-Ind.
“The Democrats’ answer to a Supreme Court that is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and the Constitution is to pack it with liberals who will rule the way they want. The Supreme Court should be independent, not inflated by every new administration. That’s why I’ve introduced a constitutional amendment to permanently keep the number of justices at nine,” Cruz said in a statement.
If this amendment is passed by Congress, it would head to the states for ratification. Cruz originally introduced this amendment in 2021. He did so in repossessed to statements from Democrats suggesting that they might seek to add more justice to pack the Supreme Court.
Fox News reported:
In October 2020, just before the presidential election, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said “everything is on the table” during an appearance on MSNBC when asked what Democrats could do about the court if they regained control of the Senate that year.
Calls then intensified after the Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision last year.
“Right-wing extremists have hijacked the Supreme Court of the United States,” progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., tweeted last year after a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked. “We must #ExpandTheCourt to rebalance it and defend our basic rights, including the constitutional right to an abortion.”
“For years the left has been desperate to pack the court to promote their radical agenda. We must ensure that we stay true to the court’s founding principles, maintain the precedent of nine justices, and keep the Democrats from their brazen attempts to rig our democracy,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
House Republicans introduced a companion amendment in January, warning that Democrat lawmakers might “weaponize” the high court if they gain control of Congress.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Biden does not support court-packing.
“That is something that the president does not agree with,,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during the gaggle. “That is not something that he wants to do.”
The Hill reported:
Proponents of the expansion argue that the status quo allows for effective minority rule, with an activist conservative court overruling policies and laws passed by elected Democratic lawmakers and potentially even changing the electoral landscape to benefit Republicans for years to come.
Other critics of the conservative court have suggested limited terms for justices, who are currently appointed for life, as a way to make the court’s power less entrenched.
