Leftists have a history of playing fast and loose with rules. They love to twist the meaning of words to make them mean the exact opposite of what they really mean in order to get what they want. They’ll break rules wherever they can, confident that they either won’t get caught or, if they are caught, will get a slap on the wrist. Or in those instances in which the rules really do get in the way, they’ll try to change them outright.
That’s the case today with the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court. Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to add four more members to the Supreme Court, bringing it up to 13 Justices. It’s important to remember that the number of Supreme Court Justices isn’t defined in the Constitution, it’s determined by Congressional legislation. Throughout its history, the Court has had as few as six Justices and as many as 10. But since 1869 the Court has remained at nine Justices.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to pack the Supreme Court in the 1930s, with a proposal to increase it to up to 15 Justices. But his own party rejected him, with the Senate voting 70-20 against the court-packing plan.
That historical precedent hasn’t dissuaded Congressional leftists today, who have been upset at what they see as a conservative majority on the Court today. In their view, the Court exists solely to rubber stamp leftist legislation, ruling constitutional what clearly is unconstitutional. So now that the Court’s makeup won’t favor them, they want to change the rules to pack it once again with friendly Justices.
Speaker Pelosi has announced that she doesn’t plan to bring court-packing legislation to a vote in the House, which is good if she keeps her word. But pressure from the left wing of her caucus could force her at some point to consider the legislation. It’s just one more attempt by the left to force its views on Americans who don’t want to be subjected to socialism. And, like everything else the left does, it needs to be fought tooth and nail.