Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. claims that adding seats to the Supreme Court would 'reinvigorate our Constitution'



As Democratic lawmakers call for for adding seats to the U.S. Supreme Court, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey is claiming that increasing the number of justices would "reinvigorate our Constitution."

"I urge all my colleagues to support expanding the supreme court. Balancing the court will undo decades of republican court packing, reinvigorate our Constitution, and protect American democracy," Pascrell tweeted on Friday.

\u201cI urge all my colleagues to support expanding the supreme court.\n\nBalancing the court will undo decades of republican court packing, reinvigorate our Constitution, and protect American democracy.\u201d
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Bill Pascrell, Jr. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1657890065

In a June tweet, Pascrell used the same language, accusing the GOP of "court packing" and claiming that "New justices will reinvigorate our Constitution to reflect our nation."

The nation's high court has been fixed at nine seats for more than a century, but some Democrats are clamoring to add more justices. "The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869," according to the Supreme Court website.

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington declared in a tweet on Friday, "I'm a woman of color who's had an abortion, is in a loving, interracial marriage, and has an amazing trans daughter. This extremist Supreme Court is a direct threat to me, my loved ones, and to millions of people all across this country. We need balance now. Expand the Court."

\u201cI\u2019m a woman of color who's had an abortion, is in a loving, interracial marriage, and has an amazing trans daughter.\n\nThis extremist Supreme Court is a direct threat to me, my loved ones, and to millions of people all across this country.\n\nWe need balance now. Expand the Court.\u201d
— Pramila Jayapal (@Pramila Jayapal) 1657910521

Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York tweeted on Wednesday, "Expand the Supreme Court before Clarence Thomas’ far-right dystopia becomes our reality." In a post on Friday, Jones declared that "the cascade of horrors won’t stop until Democrats use their power. Expanding the Court is more important than ever."

While Democrats have been outraged lately by the Supreme Court's ruling that enabled states to ban abortions, progressives had already been pushing to pack the court prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Liberal lawmakers have even advocated for legislation to add seats to the high court.

Congressional Progressive Caucus backs legislation that would pack the Supreme Court by adding four more justices



Progressive lawmakers are pushing to pack the U.S. Supreme Court by adding four more justices to the bench.

The membership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus has voted in favor of backing the Judiciary Act of 2021, which would raise the number of justices from nine to 13.

"After thoughtful consideration, the Progressive Caucus membership has determined that the urgent work to restore American democracy must include expanding the Supreme Court,” Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement.

"The current bench was filled by a partisan, right-wing effort to entrench a radical, anti-democratic faction and erode human rights that have been won over decades. In recent years, this court has gutted the Voting Rights Act and public sector unions, entrenched unconstitutional abortion bans, and failed to overturn the blatantly discriminatory Muslim Ban. As a co-equal governing body, Congress cannot sit by while this attack on the constitution continues unchecked. I am proud that our Caucus is joining the fight to expand the court and restore balance to the bench," she said.

BREAKING: After thoughtful consideration, the Progressive Caucus membership has voted to endorse the Judiciary Act. \n\nThis bill would add 4 seats to the Supreme Court, bringing the number of seated justices up to 13.\n\nWe're proud to join the fight to restore balance to the bench.
— Progressive Caucus (@Progressive Caucus) 1641403569

The quantity of seats on the court has been fixed at nine for more than 150 years.

"The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869," according to the Supreme Court's website.

A Morning Consult/Politico poll of registered voters conducted in April 2021 found that the idea of expanding the number of seats on the high court was not very popular. When selecting which came closest to their view, just 26% indicated that they thought Congress should approve a law permitting more than nine justices to serve on the high court, while 46% indicated that the nation's legislature should only allow nine members on the high court.