Democratic nominee Joe Biden continues to signal his support for packing the Supreme Court.
The former vice president promises now that, if elected, he will convene a “bipartisan” panel to advise him on how to “reform” the court, which he says is “getting out of whack.” This weasely framing, the idea that the Supreme Court needs reforming, is an obvious tell that Biden absolutely intends to expand the court. He just does not want to say as much aloud, probably because court-packing polls poorly.
“If elected,” Biden said in an interview with CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell, “what I will do is I’ll put together a national commission of, bipartisan commission of, scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative.”
He added, “I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it’s getting out of whack, the way in which it’s being handled.”
Why does the court need reforming? What is “getting out of whack”? Neither the president nor the U.S. Senate has gone beyond the constitutional bounds of their respective offices. Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, opening a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The president has the authority to fill a Supreme Court vacancy at any time, and the U.S. Senate has the authority to give its advice and consent. Biden’s suggestion that something is amiss, or that the Supreme Court badly needs structural reforms when it needs no such thing, gives the game away. He backs court-packing because he agrees that a conservative-leaning Supreme Court is a break-the-glass moment. Biden is merely couching his support for expanding the court in D.C.-speak, including some nonsense about “bipartisan” commissions.
“And it’s not about court-packing,” Biden told O’Donnell.
Yes. Yes, it is absolutely about court-packing. What does “reform” look like if not adding more seats? At some point, we need to say that the ambiguity is the point.
“There’s a number of other things that constitutional scholars have debated and I’ve looked to see what recommendations that commission might make,” the 2020 Democratic nominee added.
Oh, is that right? Biden should provide the names of these “constitutional scholars” because I, for one, would be extremely interested in hearing more from these individuals about the constitutionality of packing the Supreme Court. Have you ever seen someone spend this much effort simply avoiding stating his position?
Biden’s comments this week mark a continuation of his clear openness to the Left’s call for escalation.
“I have not been a fan of court-packing,” he said last week during an appearance on ABC News. “Well, I’m not a fan — it depends on how this turns out, how it’s handled.”
He added, “it depends on how much they rush this. … Don’t rush this through.”
Again, it is a fantasy to suggest that there is something improper about the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. By legitimizing these complaints, Biden is rather loudly telegraphing his support for the Left’s call to remake one of the three coequal branches of the U.S. government.
But court-packing polls poorly, so the Democratic nominee is in a rather awkward position. He needs to signal to his base that he is on board but without saying it in so many words. That is why he is stumbling over himself with nonsense about “commissions” and half-intelligible promises about waiting to see how “it’s handled,” all while promoting the erroneous notion that Barrett’s nomination is both rushed and illegitimate.
Biden supports court-packing. You don’t even need to listen too closely to hear him say it.
