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WHIP TIPS: House Resolution to Condemn Court Packing

Washington, DC, October 6, 2020
TOPLINE: As the Democrats' nominee for president continues to evade questions about whether or not he would pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has introduced a House resolution expressing opposition to this dangerous attempt to undermine our democratic institutions. It is critical that all Republicans cosponsor this resolution: the American people deserve to know where their elected representatives stand on this insidious plan to destroy the credibility of our nation's highest court. DEMOCRAT PARTY LEADERS SUPPORT COURT PACKING Prominent Democrats poised to serve high-up positions in a Biden Administration have come out in support of packing the Supreme Court with liberal justices:

  • In 2019, when asked, “Are you open to expanding the size of the Supreme Court?” Democrats' Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris responded, “I’m absolutely open to it.”

  • In the wake of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has constantly repeated the warning, "Everything is on the table."

  • Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) made his intentions clear in no uncertain terms, tweeting, "Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court."

  • Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have all indicated that they are open to packing the Supreme Court with liberal justices.

  • The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) also endorsed packing the Supreme Court in a tweet thread, “If Sen. McConnell and @SenateGOP were to force through a nominee during the lame duck session—before a new Senate and President can take office—then the incoming Senate should immediately move to expand the Supreme Court. Filling the SCOTUS vacancy during a lame duck session, after the American people have voted for new leadership, is undemocratic and a clear violation of the public trust in elected officials. Congress would have to act and expanding the court would be the right place to start.”

  • Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whose radical leftist ideology animates the Democratic party, told reporters, "We should leave all options on the table, including the number of justices on the Supreme Court."

  • Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), bizarrely referring to packing the Supreme Court with liberal justices as "depoliticizing," said, “It’s not just about expansion, it’s about depoliticizing the Supreme Court. It’s a conversation that’s worth having.”

Republicans agree: this is a conversation worth having. Packing the Supreme Court with liberal justices would be the most egregious change to the American judicial branch in 151 years. Americans deserve to know where their elected representatives stand on this issue. HOUSE RESOLUTION CONDEMNING COURT PACKING Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the Republican Leader of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced a resolution, H.Res. 1138, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the number of Justices on the Supreme Court should remain at nine. The resolution includes important context on Democrats' attempt to pack the Supreme Court:
  • Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States has consisted of a Chief Justice and eight associate Justices for 151 years;
  • Whereas previous attempts to increase the number of Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States have been rejected and widely condemned by individuals of both political parties;
  • Whereas, during the Trump Administration, Democrats have refused to recognize the legitimacy of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominees and have advocated for packing the court with additional Justices appointed by a future Democrat president;
  • Whereas, in 2019, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated, ‘‘I think it was a bad idea when President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court’’, and that ‘‘[i]f anything would make the court look partisan, it would be that’’;
  • Whereas the Constitution is based on the principle of separation of powers to provide for checks and balances on each branch of the Federal Government, and expanding the Supreme Court purely for political advantage threatens the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances established in the Constitution;
  • Whereas any attempt to increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States or ‘‘pack the court’’ would undermine our democratic institutions and destroy the credibility of our Nation’s highest Court

Click here or on the image above to view the resolution.

BOTTOM LINE: House Republicans are strongly encouraged to cosponsor Rep. Jordan's resolution condemning and opposing radical leftists' court packing schemes. The American people must know where their elected representatives stand on this critical issue ahead of the upcoming election.