Clyburn calls for expanding Supreme Court to thirteen justices, citing Congress’s duty
Rep. James Clyburn publicly endorsed adding four new seats to the Supreme Court for a total of thirteen, arguing on national television that Congress must take “significant actions” to address what he described as a reversal of the nation’s constitutional progress, an idea critics warn could undermine the Court’s independence.On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rep. James Clyburn made his position clear: he wants Congress to expand the Supreme Court from its current nine justices to thirteen. Asked directly by host Kristen Welker whether he supported adding four seats, Clyburn responded, “Yes, I do.”
He called for what he described as “significant actions taken by the Congress” and insisted that “thirteen is a pretty good number. A baker’s dozen would be a good number to have on the court.” Clyburn added that he hoped (he hoped?) the new justices would “follow the constitutional underpinnings of this great nation of ours.”
Calls to expand the Supreme Court have become a rallying cry in some progressive circles frustrated with a conservative majority. But Clyburn’s remarks on a national platform escalate the conversation, placing a senior Democratic leader in direct support of a policy long viewed as a partisan power grab.
While Clyburn argued that new justices would “follow the constitutional underpinnings of this great nation,” critics have long warned that court-packing risks turning the judiciary into a tool of the party in power, eroding the very independence the Founders designed. The Supreme Court’s legitimacy depends on its ability to stand above partisan cycles and enforce the Constitution even when doing so is unpopular in Washington.
Expanding the Court would set a precedent difficult to reverse. If Congress can add seats to tilt the balance, nothing prevents future majorities from doing the same. The end result? A judiciary that follows the political winds, not the law.
Read more...
Calls to expand the Supreme Court have become a rallying cry in some progressive circles frustrated with a conservative majority. But Clyburn’s remarks on a national platform escalate the conversation, placing a senior Democratic leader in direct support of a policy long viewed as a partisan power grab.
While Clyburn argued that new justices would “follow the constitutional underpinnings of this great nation,” critics have long warned that court-packing risks turning the judiciary into a tool of the party in power, eroding the very independence the Founders designed. The Supreme Court’s legitimacy depends on its ability to stand above partisan cycles and enforce the Constitution even when doing so is unpopular in Washington.
Expanding the Court would set a precedent difficult to reverse. If Congress can add seats to tilt the balance, nothing prevents future majorities from doing the same. The end result? A judiciary that follows the political winds, not the law.
Read more...
86 year old James Clyburn has been in Congress for over 33 years, having assumed office on January 3, 1993.
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