Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Senate Republican says a Democratic push to expand the Supreme Court beyond nine justices would trigger “nuclear war” in the chamber, upending any sense of bipartisanship and comity across the aisle.
Thune of South Dakota, the Senate minority whip, told the Washington Examiner Monday that if Democrats decide to go down that path, any legislative and procedural options available to Republicans, including denying quorum, would be exercised.
“I think if they try to do that, it’d be [a] no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle brawl,” Thune said.
A group of House Democrats is pushing their Senate counterparts to expand the court from nine justices, its level for more than 150 years, to 13. They contend Senate Republicans broke Senate norms and traditions by refusing to consider former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, in 2016. Moreover, they say, Justice Amy Coney Barrett shouldn’t have been confirmed within weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign.
To expand the court, Senate Democrats would have to change filibuster rules, which require 60 votes for passage, to a threshold of a bare majority. At this point, there’s no indication that in the 50-50 Senate, which Democrats control due to Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, all Democratic lawmakers are on board with legislation to expand the court, let alone to scrap the filibuster.
FAR-LEFT HOUSE DEMOCRATS VENT FRUSTRATION AT SENATE COUNTERPARTS
Nonetheless, Republicans say that could change and are trying to preempt altering Senate rules.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, announced in front of the Supreme Court during a recent press conference that he would use any procedural tool to stop Democrats from expanding the Supreme Court.
“If I have to stay in South Carolina to deny a quorum to do this crazy stuff, I will,” Graham said. “If a third-world emerging democracy did this, the State Department with all of us would be talking about a puppet government creating a puppet court.”
A quorum is necessary for every vote, and at least 51 senators must be present during a vote. However, the vice president does not count as part of the Senate body’s quorum count, and every Republican lawmaker would need to participate in denying a quorum. Additionally, Democrats could change the quorum rules in an attempt to foil Republican strategy.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
When asked how Republicans would respond if Democrats changed quorum rules, Thune replied, “I don’t put anything past them, including trying to blow up the rules. If they had the votes, I think they would get rid of the legislative filibuster, so I don’t think there’s any length they won’t go to to try and enact this agenda.”
He added, “But what I’m saying is whatever the procedural tools are that are available to us, we will exercise them because that would be a declaration of nuclear war in the Senate.”
