Progressives Bring Back Call to Expand Supreme Court

Progressive Democrats have renewed their call to expand the Supreme Court following its decision on voting laws in Arizona in a blow to the Voting Rights Act.

"Today, the Supreme Court once again gutted the Voting Rights Act," Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., tweeted on Thursday. "If we don’t expand the Court soon, we will no longer have a democracy to protect. What are we waiting for?"

The congressman went on to retweet journalist and author Ari Berman, who said: "Never forget: If Mitch McConnell had not stolen 2 Supreme Court seats for Trump there would be 5-4 progressive majority protecting voting rights instead of 6-3 conservative majority gutting them."

Jones added, "And still some people have the nerve to question whether Court expansion is necessary." 

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., tweeted: "Today’s ruling is another blow to voting rights. We have no time to waste to protect the right to vote. We must abolish the filibuster and pass the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act. And we must expand the Supreme Court."

His fellow Massachusetts Democrat, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, wrote that "Today's SCOTUS decision is yet another attack on our voting rights," and said "Congress must act," before listing a series of priorities: "Abolish the Jim Crow filibuster. Pass the For The People Act. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Expand the court. Save our democracy."

Last April, Markey and Jones joined with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., to introduce legislation that would increase the size of the Supreme Court from nine members to 13.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at the time that she would wait to call a vote on the bill until after President Joe Biden can establish a commission to study the proposal.

"I don’t know that that’s a good idea or bad idea. I think it’s an idea that to be considered. And I think the president’s taking the right approach to, to have a commission to study such a thing," she said, adding that the creation of a commission is "a big step" in itself.

Biden said during his 2020 presidential campaign that he does not support expanding the Supreme Court.

"I would not get into court packing. We add three justices. Next time around, we lose control, they add three justices. We begin to lose any credibility the court has at all," Biden said during a primary debate.

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