Calls from progressive lawmakers and activist groups to expand the Supreme Court have fallen noticeably silent since President Donald Trump won the election in November and returned to the Oval Office last month.
During President Joe Biden’s tenure, progressive organizations such as Demand Justice and Alliance for Justice were vocal advocates for adding seats to the high court, which has a 6-3 Republican-appointed majority cemented with the help of Trump’s three nominees from his first term. Progressives’ concerns focused on what they viewed as an entrenched conservative majority’s influence on issues such as abortion, voting rights, and environmental regulations. Lawmakers including Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) supported legislative efforts to expand the high court.
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However, as Trump’s administration regains power, those same voices have largely gone silent. The Washington Examiner reached out to these lawmakers and organizations for comment, but none responded.
Conservative judicial advocates have noticed the shift.
“No one is surprised that after the November election, Democrats and far-left activists stopped the pressure campaign to expand the court once it no longer benefited them,” Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, told the Washington Examiner. “Their hypocrisy is a reminder that calls to alter the judiciary and our nation’s highest court have always been about political gain and not the rule of law.”
One of the more prominent Biden-era court-packing efforts came with the reintroduction of the Judiciary Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), alongside Sen. Markey, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). The bill proposed expanding the Supreme Court from nine to thirteen justices, aiming to “restore balance” to what they described as a “rogue, radical Supreme Court.”
At the time, Johnson claimed that the high court had “descended into extremist politics” and called expansion necessary “to save our democracy.” Sen. Markey echoed the sentiment, accusing Republicans of having “hijacked the confirmation process” to build a conservative majority. Smith argued that recent ethics scandals and controversial rulings had created a “legitimacy crisis” for the high court, saying, “Doing nothing is not an option—we need to abolish the filibuster and reform and expand the Court.”
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But their months of silence since Trump’s election victory in November marks a sharp contrast from previous years when court expansion was framed as a necessary check on conservative judicial power. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tweeted in July last year, “Congress has already used its constitutional authority to expand the Supreme Court six times in the past. Court expansion isn’t new. It isn’t radical. It’s what we must do to rein in a Court that Republicans packed and that clearly doesn’t feel limited by the rule of law.”
Congress has already used its constitutional authority to expand the Supreme Court six times in the past. Court expansion isn’t new. It isn’t radical. It’s what we must do to rein in a Court that Republicans packed and that clearly doesn’t feel limited by the rule of law.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) July 9, 2024
Even former Vice President Kamala Harris, who led the Democratic ticket after Biden’s withdrawal from the race, had previously expressed openness to expanding the Supreme Court.
Notably, groups including Demand Justice and Alliance for Justice still host pages on their websites promoting court expansion. Demand Justice’s site reads: “Adding four seats is the only way to restore balance to the Court immediately… All it takes is a bill passed through Congress and signed by the president.” Similarly, Alliance for Justice contends that expanding the Supreme Court would help “dilute its current partisanship” while increasing its capacity to handle more cases.
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Dan McLaughlin, a fellow at the National Review Institute, told the Washington Examiner the silence by the Left “really shows how none of these people and groups ever meant any of their claims to be high-minded reformers. They just wanted more power for their side. And when court-packing won’t deliver that, they lose interest.”
“But don’t worry, they’ll be back demanding it again the next time they’re in power and the Court is in their way,” McLaughlin added.
