While Joe Biden was hesitant to endorse court packing on the campaign trail last year, as President, he just created a commission to study the idea. Several outlets report progressives still (or already?) unhappy.
Summary
President Biden is forming a commission to look into the feasibility of potential changes to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The bipartisan commission will study whether more justices can be added to the Supreme Court, the possibility of term limits, and the rules governing the Court.
- The 36-member panel will fulfill a campaign promise Biden made last year during the public debate surrounding the Court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.
- In the face of progressive activists calling for his retirement, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer raised warnings about changes to the court, saying it risks “the politicization of the high court.”
- Progressive activists also cast doubt on the commission, with the leader of the left-wing group Demand Justice saying the inclusion of “far-right voices” on the commission will make it “unlikely to meaningfully advance the ball on Court reform.”
- Reporting by The New York Times framed the creation of the commission as Biden caving to progressive activists.
- The Washington Post already declared the commission a disappointment to liberals and progressives, saying it will likely not provide the intended results or rapid change desired by the left.
- ABC News similarly voices the concerns of liberal activists, who see the commission as Biden’s attempt to delay or avoid packing the court.
- In their reporting, The Federalist quoted the late Justice Ginsburg in defense of maintaining the court’s status quo, who argued that adding seats to the Supreme Court would damage judicial integrity.
- Fox News and OANN highlighted warnings by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who called the commission “a direct assault on our nation’s independent judiciary.”
- Townhall.com reported on Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse’s response to the commission, saying its creation is because President Biden is unwilling to “come out and flatly tell the radical left that he’s not going to pack the Supreme Court.”
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
