Keep the Nine
At the start of the 117th Congress when control of the Senate and White House changed, I had concerns regarding legislation coming down the pipeline. I saw politically-motivated changes to the Supreme Court coming from a mile away – that's why the first bill I introduced this year was to safeguard the Supreme Court by capping the number of justices at nine. We've had nine justices since 1869 – nine justices are the right number for deliberation – and in recent years both Justice Breyer and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg have agreed.
Unfortunately, my intuition was correct and yesterday, prominent House and Senate Democrats introduced legislation to expand the Supreme Court to thirteen justices. I'm strongly opposed to this proposal – the size of the court shouldn't bounce up and down based on who has won the most recent election. We've weaponized almost everything in our modern political system, but our courts have managed to stay somewhat above this fray. We shouldn't endanger that tradition with court packing.
Speaker Pelosi said she would not bring the bill to pack the court to the House floor for a vote – that's the right call. However, just this week, President Biden announced a commission to examine what impact expanding the court may have on our country. I'm hopeful this commission will follow the advice of Justices Breyer and Ginsburg, people who spent their lives adjudicating our laws, and recommend maintaining a nine-seat Supreme Court.
I won't take that chance though which is why I've been building a coalition to protect the court in the House of Representatives. My bill to "Keep the Nine" has more than 140+ cosponsors has gained serious traction amongst like-minded conservatives.
Our Supreme Court can't become a political football every time power shifts in Washington. We can't risk compromising public trust of the highest court in the land, that's why I support keeping the nine.