Andrew
Former Attorney General (and current comedian, we suppose) Eric Holder said this week that Democrats need to use their Senate majority to ram through additional Supreme Court judges so that they can once again claim the ideological majority of the nation’s high court. In a virtual conference sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Holder let fly with some high comedy.
“It is painfully clear Democrats and progressives are uncomfortable with the acquisition and use of power, while Republicans and conservatives never have been,” Holder said.
Yes, if there’s anything that has been “painfully clear” about the last ten years of American politics, it’s that Democrats are really shy about claiming power and then using it to push their unpopular agenda onto the public. We get that Holder may have already forgotten about the Mueller investigation or the first sham impeachment, but damn, how did he come to miss the impeachment that just happened? His tireless efforts to register fraudulent voters must not leave much time to keep up with the news.
“Our courts badly need reforms,” Holder said. “The Republicans have abused their power to give themselves an unfair advantage. It is necessary and totally appropriate to add seats.”
Okay. Okay. Let us get this straight. Republicans “abused” their rightfully-elected power to nominate and confirm three Supreme Court justices in accordance with the Constitution. And in response to this, Democrats must upend our Supreme Court by adding any number of extra judges that they want to ensure that they begin getting the “right” rulings? Did we take an overdose of our medication this morning, or does this sound completely crazy to anyone else?
In any event, Biden and Schumer are going to face an uphill battle if they want to pack the court. Especially since Sen. Marco Rubio has just introduced a constitutional amendment that would enshrine the court’s nine justices into law.
“Packing the Supreme Court is a radical, left-wing idea that would further undermine America’s confidence in our institutions and our democracy,” Rubio said in a news release. “As a candidate, President Joe Biden promised to unify America, and even said he was ‘not a fan’ of packing the Supreme Court, a radical proposal he once referred to as a ‘bonehead idea’ when he served in the Senate. If he is sincere about healing our country and protecting our institutions, he will support this effort to protect the Supreme Court.”
Perhaps more painfully for the idea, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has already said that he will never support adding additional judges to the Supreme Court. Without even a simple majority, the proposal appears to be dead in the water for Democrats. But then, since they’re so “uncomfortable” wielding power, we’re sure they won’t mind.
