Staff Reports
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to be on presidential primary ballots has triggered a wave of liberal outrage and calls to expand the number of justices on the bench. Even though all nine justices, including the six with a Republican-appointed majority, agreed that states cannot disqualify federal officeholders and candidates, left-leaning groups are not taking the news well.
Demand Justice, a left-wing judicial group, wasted no time in taking to social media to push for court packing, with the organization posting “Expand the Court” on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the ruling. This sentiment was echoed by other liberal organizations like the Women’s March, further fueling the drastic call to increase the number of Supreme Court justices.
Expand the Court.
— Demand Justice (@WeDemandJustice) March 4, 2024
The idea to expand the Supreme Court is a left-wing effort to offset the 6-3 Republican-appointed majority, which was achieved during former President Trump’s administration. Demand Justice, a vocal proponent of court packing, has a history of receiving financial backing from the George Soros-backed Open Society Policy Center and has actively advocated for adding more justices to the Supreme Court.
Conservative voices have swiftly condemned the left’s outcry, with Carrie Severino, president of the conservative JCN, formerly known as Judicial Crisis Network, stating that the push for court packing demonstrates how “radical and out of touch” these groups are. The pressure to add more justices to the high court aligns with previous campaigns by left-leaning organizations to encourage retirement among sitting Supreme Court justices to pave the way for nominations by a Democratic president.
Meanwhile, some legal scholars are speculating about the possibility of convincing Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who will turn 70 in June, to retire early, giving President Biden another opportunity to nominate a younger justice. The potential implications of a Supreme Court vacancy leading up to the next presidential election have sparked renewed discussions about the court’s composition and the potential for a Republican president to fill vacancies with conservative justices.
Josh Barro, a former Republican journalist who switched parties in 2016 to support Democrats, reignited questions regarding Justice Sotomayor’s retirement, citing concerns about the court’s ideological balance and the repercussions of a conservative shift in the future.
Overall, the Supreme Court’s decision has reignited the debate over court packing and the makeup of the judicial branch, fueling the flames of partisanship and ideological battles. The left’s calls for expanding the Supreme Court and pressuring justices to retire have added another layer of intensity to an already contentious political landscape.
