Republicans withdrew Wednesday night and Thursday morning because of a bill that some Democrats are proposing to tackle the Supreme Court, calling it an “assault” on judicial independence.
But they also predicted the move would be unpopular and help Republicans in the midterm elections.
“Democrats are launching a full-scale attack on the independence of the federal judiciary. Republicans will stop them,” Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Said in a tweet.
“This is such a fantastic gift to the NRSC,” added Matt Whitlock, a former associate of the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC). “And to make it a bill instead of a Senate rule process means we can get moderate House Ds on the record as well. Just a fantastic twist.”
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Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass .; House Judge Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y .; Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga .; and representative Mondaire Jones, DN.Y .; will announce the bill on Thursday at 11:30 in a press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court.
The legislation would expand the Supreme Court to 13 seats. There are currently nine seats on the court. This number has remained the same since 1869.
Some Democrats have loudly called for the expansion of the Supreme Court after former President Donald Trump had three nominees confirmed during his presidency. They reject some of the rulings the court has issued, accusing the judges of being biased toward Republicans.
“Republicans packed the court when Mitch McConnell held Merrick Garland’s seat almost a year before an election, and Amy Coney Barrett confirmed a few days before the next election. The disruption of the radical right-wing majority of the court would rectify this injustice, “Jones said Thursday.
But court packaging does not fill vacant seats in the Supreme Court, as Jones says. Rather, it means adding seats to the Supreme Court to change the outcome of its rulings. The term was first coined when it was unsuccessfully attempted by former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
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Jones added on Wednesday that the extension of the Supreme Court is ‘infrastructure’.
“He does not even mean that it is a parody, which makes it great. His moderate Democratic colleagues who will face tough races next year will not thank him for this trick,” Whitlock replied.
Democrats’ proposal for the court package is contrary to the comments Judge Stephen Breyer made last week to oppose the court package.
“My experience of more than 30 years … as a judge has shown me that once men and women take the judicial oath, they take the oath to heart. They are loyal to the rule of law, not to the political party that helped have to ensure their appointment, “Breyer said.” These considerations convince me that it is wrong to regard the court as just another political institution and it is doubly wrong to think of its members as junior league politicians. “
Breyer added: “Structural change motivated by the perception of political influence can only nurture that latter perception, which can further erode confidence.
Republicans have said they plan to fight hard against the Democrats’ efforts. The Conservative Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) is launching a $ 1 million three-week advertising campaign against the bill in court. The ads will be broadcast on national cable and in the Washington, DC area.
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“The left and the liberal dark money groups that support them will not stop stirring to tackle the court,” JCN President Carrie Severino tweeted. “They will not be satisfied with a report from a commission. They want to tackle the court with politicians in robes who will advance their radical agenda.”
Some Republican senators weighed in as well.
“The packaging of the court is an act of arrogant lawlessness. Those behind this effort are spitting in the face of judicial independence,” said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, added: “Packing the Supreme Court will destroy the Supreme Court. The Democrats will do anything for power.”
“It’s taking over an entire branch of government, the justice system, and it’s packing them up,” House California Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a radio interview. “It’s contrary to everything we as Americans believe … It’s contrary to what Joe Biden at the time when he was a senator would ever say.”
“It should scare every American, no matter where you stand politically,” McCarthy added in an interview on “Mornings with Maria.” “It just shows how far the Democratic Party has moved. There is almost no more common sense or moderate Democrats elected … It’s beyond a branch of government to simply have your control over a nation. It should be the scariest. I’ve ever heard them do. ‘
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Other high-profile Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Have not weighed in yet. Several moderate Democrats, including Sens Joe Manchin, DW.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine and Josh Gottheimer, DN.J., also did not comment on the bill.
But it is highly unlikely that the legislation will succeed.
Democrats can only lose two votes in the House and can still pass a bill. And in the Senate, they will have to get rid of the legislative filibuster to tackle their bill in court. Manchin and Cinema said they would not do so. Manchin also said earlier that he is against court packaging.
Fox News’ Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.