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Democrats plan to introduce bill to expand the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (WISH) – On Thursday, a group of Democrats are reportedly planning to introduce legislation that would expand the number of Supreme Court Justices. According to Reuters, the proposal would add four more seats making 13 total.

Currently, the high court has nine justices, with a six to three conservative majority. Former President Donald Trump appointed three of those justices during his four years in office.

Overnight, Democrat New York Representative Mondaire Jones, tweeted “Our democracy is under assault, and the supreme court has dealt the sharpest blows. To restore power to the people, we must #expandthecourt.” Jones is one of the lawmakers we expect to hear from on Thursday.

Last week, President Biden formed a bipartisan commission to study potential changes such as expanding or adding term limits. As of Thursday morning, it was not clear where he stands on this proposal. However, during the campaign, Biden repeatedly sidestepped questions on expanding the court.

The number of supreme court justices has been nine since 1869. Congress has the power to change that number and did so, in the past.


A bill to expand the Supreme Court would likely face an uphill battle since the senate is evenly divided. USA Today reports that on Wednesday night the topic came up during a judiciary committee hearing and had major push back from Republicans.

Now, all eyes are on a news conference scheduled for Thursday at 11:30 am, where Senator Ed Markey and House of Representatives members Jerrold Nadler, Hank Johnson and Mondaire Jones plan to introduce this legislation.