The Constitution does not say how many Supreme Court judges should sit. Originally, there were six judges on the Supreme Court. This number changed several times, but in 1869 Congress decided to set the number at nine judges. The issue, dubbed « short packing, » has now found its way to the forefront of the presidential election, with Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris, D-California, questioned about it in debates and campaigns. On Thursday, when Biden was asked at a campaign stop in Phoenix if he would support the idea, he said, « You`ll know my opinion on the trial when the election is over. » Following President Trump`s decision to run for Ruth Bader Ginsburg`s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, some Democrats in Congress, angered by the timing of the decision, have called for a change in the nation`s highest court. Fearing that the institution has leaned strongly to the right for 30 or 40 years, Democrats have threatened to change the court`s ideological complexion by increasing the number of judges who hear the best cases in the country. What does the Constitution say about the number of judges at the Court? Vice President Mike Pence urged Harris to support the packaging of the court. She did not give an answer. Former Vice President Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have so far refused to say whether they would support court grabbing if Democrats won the presidential election, won the Senate and retained the House.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, recently introduced a resolution to Congress that would limit the court to nine judges. Democrats say they believe Amy Coney Barrett`s nomination for Judge Ginsberg`s seat was too close to a presidential election and that President Donald Trump did so to ensure a « conservative » court, whether he is re-elected or not. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attempted to add members to the court in the 1930s. Roosevelt proposed revamping the court by adding a new judge whenever a judge was 70 and did not retire. Congress did not approve FDR. According to the Washington Post, at least 11 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination were open to the idea of increasing the number of judges on the court. « Any attempt to increase the number of U.S.
Supreme Court justices or take over the court » would undermine our democratic institutions and destroy the credibility of our nation`s highest court, » the resolution reads. Joe Biden travels to Michigan to promote President GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – OCTOBER 02: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden waves before traveling to Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the New Castle County Airport in New Castle, Delaware, October 2, 2020. Biden tested negative for coronavirus this morning after learning that U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images) What is court packaging and how could the Democrats do it? What is Biden`s position on this issue? Here`s what we know about it now. Rep. Joe Kennedy tweeted in the days following Ginsburg`s death: « If [the Senate] holds a vote in 2020 (to replace Ginsberg), we will finish court in 2021. It`s as simple as that. If the House of Representatives, the Senate and the President agree, the number can be changed by passing a law. It would take a simple majority in both houses for the bill to pass. The Chair should sign it.
Democrats did not say how many judges they would consider if given the opportunity. « The American people deserve a clear answer, » Pence said. And if you haven`t figured it out yet, the direct answer is that they will take over the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election.â The number of Supreme Court justices increased and decreased in the mid-1800s, reaching once 10 members. In 1869, the number was set at nine and has remained at nine ever since. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, told members of his caucus that he would retaliate if the GOP proceeded with Barrett`s nomination. « It`s not just about expansion, it`s about depoliticizing the Supreme Court, » said Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts. « Let me be clear: If President McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate continue with this, then nothing is out of the question for next year. Nothing is off the table, » Schumer told his faction in a phone call after Judge Ginsburg`s death. Both Biden and Harris were asked about this during debates, and both declined to answer the question. The Supreme Court of the United States is composed of nine judges, one of whom is the Chief Justice.
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