After introducing legislation to pack the Supreme Court, a far-left congresswoman from Michigan justified the action with blatantly false statements.
“Republicans damaged the Supreme Court and stole the majority. It’s time to #ExpandTheCourt to ensure we restore power to the people and bring justice to the people,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) said on Twitter.
Republicans damaged the Supreme Court and stole the majority.
It's time to #ExpandTheCourt to ensure we restore power to the people and bring justice to the people. https://t.co/LGqwZcGqp6
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 15, 2021
Court packing is generally understood as adding Justices to the Supreme Court for partisan purposes, in order to outvote the party that has the majority. The Democrats’ bill would add four new Justices bringing the total to 13.
But the idea that Republicans somehow “stole” the majority is not grounded in reality.
During President Donald J. Trump’s four-year term, three seats on the nation’s highest court were vacated. Trump did his constitutional duty and filled the vacant seats with Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
The three new appointments give conservatives a perceived 6-3 majority in the Court, though Justices are supposed to remain non-partisan.
Tlaib wasn’t the only Democrat to make radical and false claims upon the bill’s introduction.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) called the Court “stilted” and “illegitimate,” and said that “Republicans stole two seats on the Supreme Court, and now it is up to [Democrats] to repair that damage.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY-10) claimed that the Democrats are “not packing the Supreme Court, we’re unpacking it.”
The Supreme Court grew from seven to nine members in 1837, and then to 10 members during the Civil War. Later, the Court’s size was reduced from 10 back to seven. These moves were considered to be “nakedly partisan” as the United States navigated the Civil War and post-war reconstruction.
In 1869, Congress passed a law that was signed by president Ulysses S. Grant, adding two Justices back to the Court for a total of nine, where it remains today.
But the Democrats’ 2021 court-packing bill seems destined for failure, and likely won’t even be voted upon in the Democrat-controlled House.
“I have no intention to bring it to the floor,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) said in a press conference Thursday.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Georgia Michigan Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to dabroscareports@gmail.com.