05 July 2023 – President Biden can’t choose his direct opponent next year. But Mr. Biden and Democrats can certainly manufacture one.
The Supreme Court is on the ballot in 2024.
Liberals are incensed at the latest spate of Supreme Court opinions. Several of the decisions went against causes important to the left.
The High Court undid the President’s plan to cancel $400 billion in student loans. LBGTQ groups are infuriated that the Court ruled that a Colorado web designer doesn’t have to make sites for same-sex weddings. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action requirements in higher education.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told CNN the justices are “destroying the legitimacy of the Court.” She endorses issuing subpoenas for justices.
“They are expanding their role into acting as though they are Congress itself. And that, I believe, is an expansion of power that we really must be focusing on the danger of this court and the abuse of power in this Court, particularly as it is related to the entanglements around conflicts of interest as well,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was critical of CNN for doing a town hall event with former President Trump. (Tom Williams)
This is why left-wing Members hope to expand and potentially “pack” the Court with jurists who may do the bidding of progressives.
MUST-DO: WHAT CONGRESS HAS LEFT ON ITS PLATE AT YEAR’S HALFWAY MARK
Because of the burgeoning size of the federal judiciary, Congress added a seventh justice to help oversee lower courts in 1807. The Court grew to nine justices in 1837.
In 1863, Congress added a 10th seat to the Supreme Court for President Lincoln. This came right after the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision in the late 1850s. There was hope that Lincoln could retool the Court following the Dred Scott case by appointing a jurist aligned with the Union who opposed slavery. However, Lincoln never filled that seat. But after Lincoln’s assassination, there was fear that President Andrew Johnson may alter the court. So in 1866, Congress shrunk the size of the Supreme Court to seven justices. That prevented Johnson from nominating anyone to the Supreme Court as the nation was in the midst of Reconstruction.
In a radio “Fireside Chat” on March 9, 1937, FDR squarely challenged the High Court.
“The Courts, however, have cast doubts on the ability of the elected Congress to protect us against catastrophe by meeting squarely our modern social and economic conditions,” said Roosevelt.
FDR accused the Supreme Court of an “arbitrary exercise of judicial power” when it came to opinions about banks and railroads. So the president hoped to change the Court by adding more youthful members who might align more closely with his political agenda.
It’s doubtful that the Democrats efforts to increase the size of the Supreme Court will go anywhere. It’s unclear that the proposal has anywhere close to 51 votes to pass in the Senate. Commandeering 60 votes to overcome a filibuster is even more daunting.
However, this gives liberals another chance to rail against Senate procedures and call for an end to the filibuster. It energizes the base and helps Democratic candidates raise money.
President Franklin Roosevelt today signed the G.I.Bill of Rights, which provides broad benefits for veterans of World War II. The ceremony was witnessed by members of the Senate and House and members of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. L to right, front row in rear of President: Senator Bennett Champ Clark of MO; Congressman J. Hardin Peterson of FL; Congressman John Rankin of MS; and Edith Nourse Rogers of MA. Leaning back over the President: Senator Walter F.George of GA. In back of Mrs.Rogers: Senator Robert F. Wagner of NY, and Senator Alben Barkley of KY. (Getty)
That’s why this effort is more about the ballot box in 2024.
However, the closing argument could be the composition of the Supreme Court itself.
“Democrats will look at the Court and argue there are individuals that should not be on the Court and that they are on the Court and we have to play hardball,” said Bitzer.
Dial back to February 2016.
Facing a filibuster, McConnell deployed the nuclear option to confirm Gorsuch. McConnell again relied on the nuclear option to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the fall of 2018.
After the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, McConnell ignored what he said in 2016 about confirming justices in a presidential election year. The GOP-controlled Senate rammed through the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before the 2020 presidential election.
This is why liberals are apoplectic about the Supreme Court.
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You can’t manufacture a potential adversary in sports. But you can in politics.
President Biden can’t choose his direct opponent in 2024. But Mr. Biden and Democrats can certainly aim to put the Supreme Court on the ballot in 2024.
