If the Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, Kamala Harris has called for expanding the Supreme Court. “We need more justices on the Supreme Court so that we can have a court that actually reinforces the spirit and principles behind the Constitution of the United States,” she told podcaster Keke Palmer last week.

The only spirit behind this proposal, a favorite among Democrats ever since President Donald Trump put three new justices on the top court during his first term, is a partisan and unprincipled power play, reminiscent of Franklin Roosevelt’s court-packing scheme in 1937. The number of justices on the high court changed a few times in the 19th century, hitting ten in 1863, reduced to seven in 1866, and popped back up to nine in 1869, where it has remained ever since. In other words, very close to settled law both liberal and conservative legal minds so adore, as long as it is settled in accord with their partisan belief.