Former Vice President Joe Biden, a contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, says he does not support the idea of expanding the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“No, I’m not prepared to go on and try to pack the court, because we’ll live to rue that day,” he told Iowa Starting Line on Thursday.
Several of Biden’s rivals for the nomination, including former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have come out in favor of expanding the court, while Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have yet to rule it out.
Biden also said that he would be opening to nominating Judge Merrick Garland, who was former President Barack Obama’s last nominee to the Supreme Court.
“Sure, I would,” Biden said when asked if he’d nominate Garland again. “By the way, he’s a first-rate person.”
He also said that he’s “not going to seat anybody on the court, lower court or otherwise, who doesn’t support the basic fundamental notion that there’s an inherent right to privacy,” and pledged to hire a diverse team to serve in his administration, if elected.
“There’s a lot of really, really qualified people out there, both African-American and women,” Biden said. “My administration, like our last one, will reflect what the country looks like. So will the court reflect what the country looks like. It’s important. It’s really important. I promise that’s going to happen. Just like my staff looks like how the country looks like.”
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