Schiff, who has authored legislation to expand the number of Supreme Court justices, issued the call in a fundraising email under the subject line “Re: SCOTUS.”
The email says “we must expand the Supreme Court. And let me tell you, I didn’t come to this conclusion lightly.”
“Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell gamed the system and kicked off one the most conservative eras of SCOTUS that our country has ever seen,” Schiff said.
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“And now, our Supreme Court, which is supposed to be a neutral, fair arbiter of the Constitution and our legal system, is full of ultra-conservative justices who have a myriad of conflicts of interest and hyper-partisan positions (that they don’t even keep a secret!).”
Two GOP lawmakers are already trying to preempt such expansion.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Kennedy (R-LA) last week introduced a constitutional amendment that would limit the Court to nine justices.
“The effort to pack the Supreme Court and turn justices into politicians in robes would delegitimize and destroy one of the most important institutions in America,” Kennedy said in a statement.
“Congress must protect the judicial branch from political expedience by safeguarding its current structure.”
“And when decisions — like the fate of President Biden’s student debt cancellation, the continued attempts to strip away reproductive rights, and the unfair redistricting of Congressional seats across the country — are at the mercy of a Republican-stacked Supreme Court, we have to act.”
In addition to expanding the Court, Schiff supports term limits on the justices.
“Adding additional justices to the Supreme Court is nothing new historically, and doing this will help restore legitimacy and ensure our nation’s highest court doesn’t continue to be used to advance a partisan agenda at odds with the interests of the American people,” Schiff said.
“In short, McConnell and Trump stacked the court, and now we must unstack it.”
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