'The Court Has Become Out Of Control': Dem Lawmakers Promote Bill To Expand SCOTUS Bench

2 months ago

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) deliver remarks on a bill to expand the Supreme Court bench.

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00:00The highest court in the land became the source of the lowest principles in our land.

00:08The illegitimate and ethically challenged far-right majority has fully captured our highest

00:15court and plunged it into a crisis of confidence and legitimacy. Because we can no longer trust

00:24the court to uphold the words engraved on the outside of this building behind us,

00:28equal justice under the law, we must fight to return balance and legitimacy to this court.

00:36It's simple, it's direct, and it's been done before, and it's constitutional. We must expand

00:43the court. We must pass our Judiciary Act, take back the stolen seats, and expand the United

00:51States Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices. We got here because beginning in 2016,

00:59Senate Republicans began the process of stealing two Supreme Court seats. They started by breaking

01:07the rules for confirming justices and ended up breaking the court itself. After the February

01:142016 death of Antonin Scalia, Senate Republicans denied then-President Obama's nominee for Scalia's

01:23seat, Merrick Garland, a hearing and confirmation vote. They falsely claimed the vacancy could not

01:31be filled during a presidential year, and they paved the way for President Trump to make Neil

01:37Gorsuch his first Supreme Court appointee in early 2017. Then, in a head-spinning display

01:46of hypocrisy, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September of 2020, Senate Republicans

01:53and Donald Trump rammed through the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett a mere 10 days before Election

01:59Day. While millions of Americans were already casting ballots, the rules aren't sacred to

02:06Republicans, and neither are our constitutional rights. Congress must respond. If we fail to act,

02:15it will only get worse. The court is prepared to revoke everyday Americans' rights, reshape

02:21the checks that hold the president accountable, and reject the fundamental principles that created

02:27those rights. When something is this broken, we cannot agonize. We must organize to fix it.

02:34Expanding the court would quickly and directly right the wrong that has brought us to where we

02:39are today. With Americans' trust in the court at an historic low, and adding those four seats would

02:48be able to stop the Supreme Court of the United States from remaining the extreme court of the

02:55United States. We must pass this law and give President Kamala Harris the ability to expand

03:04the Supreme Court to give protections to all Americans. Now, let me turn it over to my partner,

03:10Hank Johnson, from the House of Representatives. Thank you, Senator Markey, and great to be with

03:17everyone today. Thank you for your leadership on this very important issue. And hello, everyone.

03:26Thanks for being here. We're getting rained on, but that's okay. This is a very important issue.

03:33Over the course of my congressional career, I have made it my mission to help restore

03:39the American people's trust and faith in our nation's highest court.

03:44And over the course of the last year, policy makers, including President Biden and the

03:50American people, have also concluded that we are dealing with a hyper-partisan,

03:56ideologically rigid, right-wing reactionary, arrogant, unaccountable, reckless, and corrupt

04:04United States Supreme Court. The result is a fractured democracy. The Constitution of the

04:12United States laid down a framework for representative democracy. A government elected

04:19by its citizens was to be a government of, by, and for the people. A citizen

04:30where citizens vote for those who want, who they want to represent them.

04:36A citizen is a person born in the United States or a naturalized human being

04:42not a corporation. And to ensure that the basic and fundamental right to vote by citizens

04:51for those persons who make the laws and for those persons elected to carry out those laws

04:58remained inviolent, the Constitution established a Supreme Court to provide a check and balance

05:07that on the two other branches of government. By turning on its head the delicate system of

05:17checks and balances that heretofore undergirded our democracy, the current Federalist Society

05:26curated United States Supreme Court has become a clear and present danger to the Constitution's

05:34foundational concept of liberty, freedom, and justice for all. In a massive and long-running

05:41power grab, the Supreme Court has weakened voting rights protections, seized power for itself by

05:50eroding legislative authority. It has eviscerated the concept that no man is above the law by

05:58bestowing absolute immunity for criminal liability for whoever is president.

06:07Excuse me, my screen is acting up.

06:14And it has simply taken power for itself. It has disrupted the delicate system of checks and

06:22balances that undergirds our democracy. It's a massive and unprecedented power grab by this

06:29United States Supreme Court that has taken power away from the legislative branch,

06:35redistributed power from the people to corporations and to itself. The court has become

06:43out of control and so we must place it back under control. The quickest route to doing that is to

06:50pass the Judiciary Act of 2023, which I'm proud to sponsor in the House along with my

06:58partner in the Senate, Edward Markey. It's time to get this done. I don't care

07:05how much it rains or how bad it might look. We'll continue to fight until we pass reform

07:13to our Supreme Court so that we can fix our fractured and broken democracy. Thank you.

07:19Beautiful. Now we're going to hear from Lanita King, the National Director of

07:27Programs at Demand Justice. Okay, I will try. There is mascara in my eye.

07:38Good afternoon. I'm Lanita King. I'm the National Director of Programs at Demand Justice.

07:44We at Demand Justice thank Senator Markey for being a leader and a leading voice on

07:48Supreme Court reform and holding our courts accountable. This past Supreme Court term,

07:54we witnessed a lawless court rule in ways that are inexplicable under our Constitution.

07:59From deeming judges as qualified to make decisions about medications,

08:03climate policy and more, and to protecting broad immunity that puts presidents above the law,

08:08the extremist justices on the court have shown us their true colors and intentions again and again.

08:15This court has taken bodily autonomy away from women, has made us all prey to gun violence in

08:21public places, and has hamstrung our ability to fight climate change and protect our planet.

08:27Alongside these recent rulings, countless ethics scandals have confirmed that the right-wing

08:31justices are partisans in robes, accepting gifts that no other elected official would be allowed to

08:36and behaving in ways that undermine the legitimacy of the judiciary. Term after term, the people of

08:42this country come away with fewer rights. We cannot and will not accept this as our new normal,

08:47and we are not powerless to stop it. Rebalancing the court, as the members gathered here today

08:52have a long history of leading on, will ensure that the court better reflects the values and

08:57the will of the people. Congress has the power to clean up this mess and restore legitimacy

09:02to a broken institution. In addition to rebalancing the court, we need reforms like term

09:07limits and binding code of ethics to ensure that our nation's highest courts work for all Americans

09:12and not just the rich and powerful. So thank you again, Senator Markey. Thank you again, Congressman.

09:19Everyone's here. I'll pass it back over. You're great. Thank you.

09:23You're great. You're great. Thank you. Doug Lindner from the League of Conservation Voters.

09:32Thank you so much, Senator Markey. I am Doug Lindner with the League of Conservation Voters.

09:36I think I picked the right haircut for today. What do you guys think?

09:38We at the League of Conservation Voters know that our climate, the air we breathe, the water we drink,

09:45and our fundamental rights are only as strong as the judges who will protect them. But the six MAGA

09:50justices on the Supreme Court have repeatedly twisted the law to undermine critical climate,

09:54clean air, and clean water safeguards. When the MAGA justices don't like the protections Congress

09:59provides for our environment and democracy, they gut them. When they don't like how agency experts

10:06enforce those protections, they fabricate new legal doctrines that tie the agency's hands.

10:12Last month, they froze a critical EPA protection against air pollution, just a year after rolling

10:16back Clean Water Act protections and two years after hamstringing climate action. Also, just

10:22last month, the MAGA justices decided three different cases, upending decades of precedent

10:27and massively shifting power from public interest agencies like the EPA, as well as elected officials

10:32and voters, to the Supreme Court itself. Power across every area of public policy, power the MAGA

10:39justices can use to serve the political and financial interests of the big polluters, big

10:44business, and far-right politicians, so they can reward the billionaires and extremists who help

10:49them capture this court and who pay for their lavish vacations, so they and their friends can

10:54rule over us and roll back our freedoms for decades to come. These MAGA justices believe

11:00they can continue to wield this massive power for the rest of their lives, lawlessly advancing

11:05their personal agendas without principle, without ethics, and without facing any consequences. But

11:11the people are facing consequences. We face the consequences of dirtier air and dirtier water

11:17when environmental protections are rolled back by these same justices who have personal financial

11:22entanglements with the fossil fuel industry, who accept private jet and yacht trips from billionaires,

11:29who roll back voting rights, carry water for insurrectionists, sanction corporate money and

11:33politics, and pursue partisan political agendas from the bench. We cannot continue this way.

11:39The people deserve a Supreme Court we can trust. Congress must act to deliver it. And so we at

11:44LCV are proud to stand with Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Hank Johnson in this critical fight

11:49to expand and rebalance the Supreme Court with four new justices who protect our environment,

11:53our democracy, and our rights instead of attacking them. Beautiful, beautiful job. Thank you so much.

11:58Oh my goodness. Next, Karen Stone from Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Thank you, Senator.

12:06Good afternoon. My name is Karen Stone. I'm Vice President of Public Policy and Government

12:10Relations at Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and I'm grateful to be here today with champions from

12:14across movements, all focused on establishing fairness, balance, and equity to the United States

12:19Supreme Court. I also want to thank Senator Markey, Representative Johnson, and their colleagues for

12:24their incredible leadership on this effort. We stood together just about a year ago to support

12:29the Judiciary Act. At that time, we were reflecting on how much devastation and destruction this

12:33Supreme Court had caused in the years since Roe was overturned. It stripped the people of the

12:38right to decide our own futures and to control our own bodies against the will of the people.

12:44And now today we're together again, and things have only gotten worse. We continue to see the

12:48ripple effect of the Dobbs decision across the country. It's clear our fundamental freedoms are

12:53fair game. As of Monday morning, when Iowa's abortion ban will go into effect, 22 states will

12:59have banned or severely restricted abortion. That's left tens of millions of people without

13:04access to care. Patients have to travel thousands of miles to access reproductive health care.

13:10Doctors are fearful of being criminalized for simply doing their jobs. When we think about

13:15our nation's federal courts, we have to think about now, we have to think about the future.

13:18These courts will continue to be used as weapons. And it's not just abortion rights that are under

13:23attack. We've seen the courts being used as chess pieces in the political games our adversaries are

13:28playing with all of our fundamental rights and freedoms. As part of a decades-long effort,

13:32our opponents have filled the courts with justices' hustle to our rights to advance

13:37their dangerous agenda, attacking not just abortion rights, but racial equity, LGBTQ equality,

13:43voting rights, and much more. The bottom line is this. This country's courts are being used to

13:47take away our rights and our freedoms, and it must stop. In this country, your level of freedom

13:52cannot depend on your zip code, your income, or how you identify. It's exactly why the system

13:59needs to change. We know that systemic change takes time, and it takes courage. We need to

14:05pass measures like the Judiciary Act, and we need to do so with the same determination of those who

14:10sit on the same court and use power to take away our rights. We need the Supreme Court to act as

14:14a backstop to protect our rights, which is why the system must change. Planned Parenthood is proud to

14:19support this legislation and committed to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners.

14:23Thank you. Next, we got Alexa Barrett from Take Back the Court.

14:32Thank you all for staying with us through the rain, and thank you, Senator Markey and the Markey team

14:38for putting this event together. I'm Alexa Barrett. I'm Director of Communications for

14:42Take Back the Court Action Fund, and today I just want to talk briefly about what we saw from the

14:45court this summer. This term was a mask-off moment for John Roberts and his right-wing majority.

14:52In the past years, Roberts has tried to shield the supermajority's true intentions

14:57under the guise of moderation, but this term was a different story. The MAGA supermajority

15:02gave a thumbs-up to fraudsters and people who want to buy off government officials.

15:06They denied our unhoused neighbors a basic human right by allowing cities to criminalize them for

15:12sleeping outside. They enabled perpetrators of gun violence to make our country less safe.

15:18And, of course, the Republican justices anointed Donald Trump King the ultimate return favor for

15:24seating three of them on the court. Cruel and dangerous decisions are not new for this court,

15:29but this term is a little different because these justices are no longer pretending.

15:34They are done pretending that their decisions are based on anything other than their own ideology.

15:39This year, the right-wing zealots on this court showed us once again that for them,

15:43there is no bottom, no fundamental right, and no constitutional principle is safe from their

15:48power grab. That's why we're so grateful to be here today with Senator Markey and Representative

15:52Johnson, whose leadership on reforming and rebalancing this broken court has been invaluable

15:57in building our movement. The reality is our democracy cannot function when a panel of

16:02ultra-powerful, unelected, unaccountable ideologues are intent on turning it into an oligarchy.

16:08We urge our other elected leaders here in Washington to join the champions here with

16:11us today and their colleagues in co-sponsoring the Judiciary Act, because we need four new justices

16:16on this court who will abide by the rule of law and work on behalf of the American people,

16:21not billionaire benefactors and right-wing extremists. We can and we will rein in this

16:25out-of-control court, and expansion is how we'll do it. Thank you so much.

16:29Thank you so much. Next, we're going to hear from Christina Harvey,

16:35from the Executive Director of Stand Up America.

16:39Hi, good afternoon, everyone. I am so excited to be here today with all of these amazing partners

16:46in the fight and in the rain. Thank you for that introduction, and thank you, Senator Markey,

16:52for your leadership, and Representative Johnson for his leadership working to fix a broken court

16:57that is putting our freedoms and our democracy in danger. I'm Christina Harvey, Executive Director

17:03of Stand Up America, and I'm here on behalf of our nearly two million members who are fighting

17:08every day, rain or shine, for the democracy we deserve, including a court that will protect

17:14our fundamental freedoms and keep us safe. I'm here as an organizational leader, but I'm also

17:21here as a mom, a mom who, frankly, is angry, angry at a right-wing majority on this court that is

17:27constantly making decisions that make my 12-year-old daughter less free and less safe,

17:34decisions only made possible by the three ultra-conservative justices who were appointed

17:39to this court by Donald Trump. This year, the right-wing majority on the court ruled that

17:45presidents are immune from criminal prosecution, overturned a ban on bump stocks used in the most

17:51deadly shooting in U.S. history, and allowed Idaho's extreme abortion ban to remain in effect

17:58for months, forcing hospitals to medevac pregnant women with medical emergencies out of state to

18:04receive care. And as if that wasn't enough, the court also made it harder for the experts whose

18:10jobs it is to keep our air and water clean, our medicines and health care safe, to actually do

18:18that. That's all after they overturned Roe v. Wade, resulting in one in three women living in

18:24states where they can't access abortion care when they need it, and overturned my state of New York's

18:30gun safety laws. Every American has been negatively impacted by the decisions of this court in some

18:37way. Polling released today showed that three in five Americans think that the Supreme Court is

18:44imposing an extreme political agenda, and that's because they are. It's time to restore balance to

18:53this hyper-partisan right-wing Supreme Court so that we can protect everything that actually makes

18:59this country great. The fastest way to do that is by expanding the court, and specifically by passing

19:06the Judiciary Act to add four seats to the court. The size of the court has already been changed

19:12seven times in our country's history, and it is time to do it again. Democracy champions like

19:19Senator Markey and Congressman Johnson are fighting for reforms like the Judiciary Act

19:24from the inside, but they can't do it alone. We need their colleagues and leadership to do more.

19:32We need Congress to finally use its power to rein in and reform this court. Our members at

19:38Stand Up America have driven over 800—no, I'll correct myself, 900,000 emails and calls to Congress

19:47in support of Supreme Court reform, demanding expanding the court through the Judiciary Act,

19:55passing a binding code of ethics, and term limits for current and future justices. And they will

20:00keep calling and writing until it is a million, until it is however many calls and emails it needs

20:06to be until Congress finally acts. Thank you. Thank you. Wow, incredible. Thank you. And as the

20:15rain ends, so will our press conference with Stephanie Yost, Counsel and Senior Government

20:21Relations Advisor at Reproductive Freedom for All. Thank you. I'm regretting complaining about the

20:27heat earlier this morning. Hi, I'm Stephanie Yost, Counsel and Senior Government Relations Advisor

20:34at Reproductive Freedom for All. I want to thank you all for the opportunity to be here

20:39as we gather to support a critical component of Supreme Court reform addressed by the Judiciary

20:44Act, expanding the Supreme Court. I want to say thank you to Senator Markey and Representative

20:48Johnson, not just for their steadfast support of reproductive freedom, but also for their

20:53leadership in returning legitimacy to our courts. After the Supreme Court took away our right to

20:59abortion over two years ago, and then bent over backward this term to leave access in limbo with

21:06two additional abortion cases, it's clear that we cannot rely on our nation's highest court to

21:11protect our fundamental rights and freedoms. This unethical, unchecked, and unaccountable

21:18MAGA supermajority on the court is responsible for the crisis we're in. As my colleague noted,

21:23abortion access has been eliminated or restricted in 21, about to be 22 and counting states following

21:31the Dobbs decision. As we've seen the terrible consequences of these bans in real time,

21:38people are being forced to travel hundreds of miles to get care. They're getting sepsis in

21:43hospitals and still being denied the treatment they need. And they're being denied the fundamental

21:48freedom to make decisions about their lives and bodies. Our rights and freedoms are on the line

21:54with real consequences. We must win back our rights and that means fixing this broken court

22:00to stop this crisis once and for all. And fixing this broken court means doing everything in our

22:05power to restore the legitimacy of the court. And that includes expanding the number of justices

22:10and passing the Judiciary Act. So I again want to thank Senator Markey and Representative Johnson.

22:14Thank you. Great job. Thank you all so much. Are there any questions? Yes, ma'am. Who are you?

22:33Well, I know the president is developing a proposal to deal with the illegitimate actions

22:42of this Supreme Court. And we've communicated to the White House in terms of our perspective

22:54on this. They know where we are. And we're also looking forward to seeing what

22:59the president is going to propose. I do not know that. Yes, sir.

23:13No. Yes, ma'am.

23:28Well, that's a brand new campaign. It's three days old. We've had this proposal since 2021.

23:36This is the coalition that came together in 2021 to say that the fastest, most direct and

23:43constitutional way to deal with this illegitimate court is to expand the court by four seats. So

23:50we have said that consistently in all of 2021, 22, 23, and now into 24. So our views are very

23:57well known. These are some of the most important public interest groups in the nation. Amongst

24:04other things, they are organizations whose agendas will be affected by the Chevron decision

24:11and the regulatory protections which can be placed upon the books to protect America's

24:16health and safety. So this is our coalition. I think the White House is very well aware of

24:21where we are and what we think is the best, fastest, most direct and constitutional way

24:27to bring this Supreme Court back from its extreme edges.

24:32Question. Anybody has on anything? Yes, ma'am.

24:39Okay.

24:48The court has been expanded seven times previously, including President Lincoln

24:54and President John Adams. So there is ample precedent for the expansion.

'The Court Has Become Out Of Control': Dem Lawmakers Promote Bill To Expand SCOTUS Bench

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