BS BULLETIN:
- Rep. James Clyburn says Democrats’ next presidential nominee should support expanding the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13.
- The South Carolina Democrat called 13 — a “baker’s dozen” — a “pretty good number” as he accused the current Court of reversing the country’s progress.
- Conservatives promptly offered to take him up on it: Expand the Court now and let President Trump nominate the four new justices.
James Clyburn wants four more Supreme Court justices.
Conservatives have one question:
How soon can we start?
Clyburn endorsed expanding the Supreme Court from nine members to 13 during an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Welker asked whether the South Carolina Democrat believes his party’s next presidential nominee should support adding seats. “Yes, I do,” Clyburn replied. “I think that we are in a position now that calls for some significant actions taken by the Congress, and we ought to expand.”
How big?
“Thirteen is a pretty good number,” Clyburn said. “A baker’s dozen would be a good number to have on the court.”
Well, OK then.
Conservatives immediately noticed a rather important detail in Clyburn’s proposal.
Donald Trump is president. “I’m actually fine with this,” one commenter responded. “Let’s add four more today and Trump can pick them.”
Another was equally accommodating: “I will support this, but only if Trump gets to pick the 4.”
And another reduced the entire debate to four words:
“Deal. Let’s do it.”
Be careful what you wish for.
The Constitution does not specify that the Supreme Court must have nine justices. Congress determines the number, which has changed several times during American history before settling at nine in 1869.
So Congress could theoretically create four additional seats.
But Congress doesn’t get to fill them.
The president nominates Supreme Court justices, and the Senate provides advice and consent.
Which means that if Clyburn somehow got his 13-member Supreme Court while Trump remains in the White House, President Donald J. Trump would get first crack at filling those shiny new chairs.
One suspects that’s not quite the baker’s dozen Clyburn had in mind.
Clyburn made clear what he does want. “I want people who will follow the constitutional underpinnings of this great nation of ours,” he told Welker.
He praised the Warren Court and argued that the current Supreme Court has “decided to reverse course and take this country back.”
The current Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, although its justices do not always divide neatly along ideological lines.
Adding four seats has long been championed by some progressive groups as a way to counter that conservative advantage.
Republicans generally call that court-packing.
And Clyburn wasn’t talking about this merely as an academic possibility.
Welker specifically asked whether support for expansion should be expected from the Democrats’ next presidential nominee.
Clyburn said yes.
That makes for one fascinating campaign promise: Elect us so we can create four new Supreme Court seats.
Which presumably works considerably better when the other party doesn’t control the White House.
Clyburn also used Sunday’s interview to unload on Justice Clarence Thomas, whom he personally supported during Thomas’s 1991 confirmation fight. He now calls that support a “mistake” and says Thomas “rebelled” against his own background.
MY QUICK TAKE
I love bipartisan compromise.
Clyburn wants four new Supreme Court justices.
Conservatives say: Done.
All that’s left is the tiny matter of asking Clyburn whether he’d like Donald Trump to nominate Justices 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Funny how quickly “Save Democracy” can turn into “Never mind.”
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- Twitchy — Clyburn Backs Packing the Court to 13 … Critics: Then Let Trump Appoint the Extra Four Today
- Mediaite — James Clyburn Regrets Supporting Clarence Thomas: ‘I Had No Idea He Would Rebel Against His Own Background’
- U.S. Senate — About the Supreme Court
- Supreme Court of the United States — The Court as an Institution
- Congressional Research Service — The Supreme Court of the United States: History and Jurisdiction
