The Democrats haven't been shy about threatening to pack the Supreme Court if the GOP approves President Trump's candidate to replace Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg.
Senator minority leader Chuck Schumer has already declared that "nothing is off the table" if the Republicans get their nominee appointed.
“If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year,” Schumer declared. “Nothing is off the table.”
Senator Ed Markey said Schumer's veiled threat out loud.
"Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court," Markey said on Twitter.
Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.
— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) September 19, 2020
Liberal academics are following suit.
"If the GOP goes forward with trying to fill the seat this year regardless of the election result, I think there is a substantial likelihood (at least 50% or more) that the Democrats will respond with court-packing, the next time they get a chance to do so," George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin told NPR.
Even before Ruth Bader-Ginsburg's death, Senate Democrats expressed openness to the idea of adding justices to the Supreme Court to shift the balance of power back towards progressivism.
If the Democrats decide to make good on their threats, it's unclear whether the Senate could survive as an institution. Packing the Supreme Court would result in a perpetual political war as each side adds or removes justices when their party is in power.
The constant flux in the highest court in the land would also degrade trust in the Supreme Court as an institution. Right now, the court at least maintains a patina of non-partisanship. If new justices were appointed every time the Senate switched hands, the American people and the states would have little respect for the court's decisions.
There is nothing in the Constitution that would keep the Senate Democrats from packing the court. If they remove the filibuster, it's likely they'll move forward with their scheme.
Only one thing can stop them: a constitutional amendment proposed at an Article V Convention of States.
Article V of the Constitution allows the states to call a convention to propose constitutional amendments. These amendments can limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, including the power of the U.S. Senate.
The Framers imagined a federal government with three branches that checked each other's power. If the Senate can pack the Supreme Court at a whim, it can effectively control the court's decisions. By filling the bench with radical progressives, the Senate has the power to radically reshape the nature of our country and our government.
They must be stopped, and the best way to do that is via a Convention of States. Over four million Americans have voiced their support, and 15 of the necessary 34 states have call for a Convention.
Sign the petition below to add your name to the list!
