>A sweeping bill introduced by a Democratic senator Wednesday would greatly increase the size of the Supreme Court, make it harder for the justices to overturn laws, require justices to undergo audits and remove roadblocks for high court nominations.
>The legislation by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is one of the most ambitious proposals to date to remake a high court that has suffered a sharp decline in its public approval following a string of contentious decisions and ethics scandals in recent years. It has little chance of passing at the moment, since Republicans have generally opposed efforts to overhaul the court.
[I couldn’t read more without entering an email address.]
CazNevi on
Man, I hope this passes!
OppositeDifference on
Oh man, this would be great. Add 6 justices over a 12 year period with each president getting to add 2. That seems pretty fair. Expanding the circuit court, and overhauling the confirmation process to prevent the shenanigans McConnell pulled from happening again.
This will never pass in the current congress, but if we get majorities in both houses in November or in 2026, this needs to be one of the first things done.
TheIrishbuddha on
Gonna have to do away with the filibuster to get this thing passed.
Last-Juggernaut4664 on
If the Democrats regain control of the House, Senate, and the White House, and decide to eliminate the filibuster, then this should be the absolute first law they pass. They could potentially legalize abortion and restore voting rights nationwide, but the partisan Supreme Court will always be the Sword of Damocles hanging over such legislation until it’s reformed.
Glittering_Lunch_776 on
Force-retire Roberts from Chief Justice as well, and maybe we got a good start going.
Halefire on
This would be fantastic, but you already know how the Republicans would portray this, especially with a very strong chance of a democratic president incoming: a power grab.
Thing is, even though they’re not wrong, Democrats should still do it. Fair is fair, and the current 6-3 SCOTUS is the result of numerous blatant power grabs by the GOP over the last 10-20 years, almost all done with the machinations of the Turtle of Kentucky.
Impossible that this will pass short of a massive upset in 2026 midterm elections delivering a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
ufo-enthusiast on
Dear Supreme Court,
Frankly, we’ve had quite enough of your bullshit.
Sincerely, America
PontificatinPlatypus on
I would rather just make it easier to remove corrupt judges, as well as judges who lied their way onto the Bench during their confirmation hearings.
obiouslymag1c on
Yeah IDK…
– We barely get through a handful of cases with the logistics of 9 justices, and somehow we want 15?
– “The bill would also require a ruling by two-thirds of the high court and circuit courts of appeals, rather than a simple majority, to overturn a law passed by Congress.” – so 10/15 judges would be required to be able to overturn a law that might violate a citizens rights?
Maybe make the court less political by forcing some non-political professional association clout into the system. Have Judges be nominated to be appointed by a vote of the members of the countries Bar associations or District courts first before being able to be appointed by the political institutions. The professional associations and district courts will hopefully provide nominees that are less-likely to be at ideological extremes, and that have made a name through good decisions. The political class still gets to make a final-check on the professional/legal/judicial organizations selections.
raerae1991 on
This is why we need to win the House and Senate, so it can pass when the next administration takes office. Thats the only way it will pass
AggroPro on
Literally nothing else. Matters until we reform the Supreme Court. Get it done
JaimeSalvaje on
They need to hold this bill until after the election. If Harris wins, this would be great if it can pass. If Trump wins, we don’t need it going anywhere.
ritwikjs on
i think having an 16 year term limit, with a retirement age would be better. No positions of public office should be for life. Wo9uld force them to make better decisions in a given time frame.
alphalegend91 on
What is the thinking for 6 justices? The 9 was because there were 9 circuit courts at the time. I’m 100% for expanding it, but to match the circuit courts (+1 for the court of appeals) making it 13 total.
theflyassassin on
Is adding a bunch more judges a better idea than term limits or does this plan account for both?
Happy-Battle2394 on
6 can be added if and only if Dems get the blue wave (White House, House, and Senate)?
ZarnonAkoni on
Needs a house majority and 60 senators or an end to the filibuster
LegDayDE on
Mitch McConnel would live for another 50 years if that’s what it took to make sure all six of those justices appointed were federalist society billionaire-owned pawns.
medievalmachine on
It should be a rotating roster drawn from all the appelate judges. That’s the best way to handle this, instead of the justices very obviously picking and choosing what they cases they want to use to legislate. And if you want to make them all lifetime appointments, fine, because of one line in the Constitution, fine, whatever.
The current composition of untouchable judge royalty that can do whatever they want isn’t right.
AlsoCommiePuddin on
One justice from each circuit seems quite reasonable.
Old-Ad-3268 on
Why would we add 6 justices when there are only 13 circuit courts? We only need to add 4.
hvyboots on
As far as I’m concerned term limits and outside oversight of their fiscal and political doings are the important parts. A few more judges wouldn’t hurt, but mostly if they’re actually doing their *job* rather than attempting to bootstrap a Christofascist state under the guise of adjudicating it won’t matter so much how many there are.
Beautiful-Aerie7576 on
Need to introduce this bill after big wins in November.
Releasing it when it has no chance of passing seems performative and doesn’t help our cause, IMHO.
mfs619 on
This is just getting dumb. We ask for term limits and they respond with:
“Can we offer you more over paid, out of touch, life long appointments?”
Shutaru_Kanshinji on
I would have much preferred that President Biden try something like this as an executive order.
It might have helped to persuade SCOTUS that their unconstitutional decision about presidential immunity should have been revisited.
Granted, a MAGA hack like Justice Roberts would probably just have twisted himself into a pretzel to justify all of Convicted Felon Trump’s presidential misconduct while condemning President Biden’s.
cwk415 on
Awesome but can we eliminate the electoral college while we’re at it?!
Effective-Island8395 on
Do it! And get DOJ to investigate the six motherfuckers currently on bench. Thomas so clearly compromised.
tjarg on
Win the House and Senate, abolish the filibuster, reform SCOTUS.
31 Comments
Gift link https://wapo.st/3Y0LV9X
Great, now get it passed!
What are the chances this bill passes?
>A sweeping bill introduced by a Democratic senator Wednesday would greatly increase the size of the Supreme Court, make it harder for the justices to overturn laws, require justices to undergo audits and remove roadblocks for high court nominations.
>The legislation by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is one of the most ambitious proposals to date to remake a high court that has suffered a sharp decline in its public approval following a string of contentious decisions and ethics scandals in recent years. It has little chance of passing at the moment, since Republicans have generally opposed efforts to overhaul the court.
[I couldn’t read more without entering an email address.]
Man, I hope this passes!
Oh man, this would be great. Add 6 justices over a 12 year period with each president getting to add 2. That seems pretty fair. Expanding the circuit court, and overhauling the confirmation process to prevent the shenanigans McConnell pulled from happening again.
This will never pass in the current congress, but if we get majorities in both houses in November or in 2026, this needs to be one of the first things done.
Gonna have to do away with the filibuster to get this thing passed.
If the Democrats regain control of the House, Senate, and the White House, and decide to eliminate the filibuster, then this should be the absolute first law they pass. They could potentially legalize abortion and restore voting rights nationwide, but the partisan Supreme Court will always be the Sword of Damocles hanging over such legislation until it’s reformed.
Force-retire Roberts from Chief Justice as well, and maybe we got a good start going.
This would be fantastic, but you already know how the Republicans would portray this, especially with a very strong chance of a democratic president incoming: a power grab.
Thing is, even though they’re not wrong, Democrats should still do it. Fair is fair, and the current 6-3 SCOTUS is the result of numerous blatant power grabs by the GOP over the last 10-20 years, almost all done with the machinations of the Turtle of Kentucky.
Impossible that this will pass short of a massive upset in 2026 midterm elections delivering a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Dear Supreme Court,
Frankly, we’ve had quite enough of your bullshit.
Sincerely, America
I would rather just make it easier to remove corrupt judges, as well as judges who lied their way onto the Bench during their confirmation hearings.
Yeah IDK…
– We barely get through a handful of cases with the logistics of 9 justices, and somehow we want 15?
– “The bill would also require a ruling by two-thirds of the high court and circuit courts of appeals, rather than a simple majority, to overturn a law passed by Congress.” – so 10/15 judges would be required to be able to overturn a law that might violate a citizens rights?
Maybe make the court less political by forcing some non-political professional association clout into the system. Have Judges be nominated to be appointed by a vote of the members of the countries Bar associations or District courts first before being able to be appointed by the political institutions. The professional associations and district courts will hopefully provide nominees that are less-likely to be at ideological extremes, and that have made a name through good decisions. The political class still gets to make a final-check on the professional/legal/judicial organizations selections.
This is why we need to win the House and Senate, so it can pass when the next administration takes office. Thats the only way it will pass
Literally nothing else. Matters until we reform the Supreme Court. Get it done
They need to hold this bill until after the election. If Harris wins, this would be great if it can pass. If Trump wins, we don’t need it going anywhere.
i think having an 16 year term limit, with a retirement age would be better. No positions of public office should be for life. Wo9uld force them to make better decisions in a given time frame.
What is the thinking for 6 justices? The 9 was because there were 9 circuit courts at the time. I’m 100% for expanding it, but to match the circuit courts (+1 for the court of appeals) making it 13 total.
Is adding a bunch more judges a better idea than term limits or does this plan account for both?
6 can be added if and only if Dems get the blue wave (White House, House, and Senate)?
Needs a house majority and 60 senators or an end to the filibuster
Mitch McConnel would live for another 50 years if that’s what it took to make sure all six of those justices appointed were federalist society billionaire-owned pawns.
It should be a rotating roster drawn from all the appelate judges. That’s the best way to handle this, instead of the justices very obviously picking and choosing what they cases they want to use to legislate. And if you want to make them all lifetime appointments, fine, because of one line in the Constitution, fine, whatever.
The current composition of untouchable judge royalty that can do whatever they want isn’t right.
One justice from each circuit seems quite reasonable.
Why would we add 6 justices when there are only 13 circuit courts? We only need to add 4.
As far as I’m concerned term limits and outside oversight of their fiscal and political doings are the important parts. A few more judges wouldn’t hurt, but mostly if they’re actually doing their *job* rather than attempting to bootstrap a Christofascist state under the guise of adjudicating it won’t matter so much how many there are.
Need to introduce this bill after big wins in November.
Releasing it when it has no chance of passing seems performative and doesn’t help our cause, IMHO.
This is just getting dumb. We ask for term limits and they respond with:
“Can we offer you more over paid, out of touch, life long appointments?”
I would have much preferred that President Biden try something like this as an executive order.
It might have helped to persuade SCOTUS that their unconstitutional decision about presidential immunity should have been revisited.
Granted, a MAGA hack like Justice Roberts would probably just have twisted himself into a pretzel to justify all of Convicted Felon Trump’s presidential misconduct while condemning President Biden’s.
Awesome but can we eliminate the electoral college while we’re at it?!
Do it! And get DOJ to investigate the six motherfuckers currently on bench. Thomas so clearly compromised.
Win the House and Senate, abolish the filibuster, reform SCOTUS.