The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday endorsed a bill that would expand the Supreme Court by four seats, saying the legislation is needed to restore balance to the court, The Hill reported.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the caucus, said the current court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, was ''filled by a partisan, right-wing effort to entrench a radical, anti-democratic faction and erode human rights that have been won over decades.''
Jayapal added in a statement that ''in recent years, this court has gutted the Voting Rights Act and public sector unions, entrenched unconstitutional abortion bans, and failed to overturn the blatantly discriminatory Muslim Ban. As a co-equal governing body, Congress cannot sit by while this attack on the Constitution continues unchecked.''
House Democrats introduced the bill, the Judiciary Act of 2021, last April, but its progress was slowed down over the summer after a presidential commission set up to review the proposal illustrated the lack of academic agreement regarding the wisdom of reforming the bench or what steps would be advisable, according to The Hill.
In October, the bipartisan commission said that one of the main risks in expanding the Supreme Court was potentially undermining its legitimacy.
Sarah Lipton-Lubet, executive director of the Take Back the Court Action Fund, expressed support for the endorsement by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, according to Common Dreams.
''Progress on everything from reproductive freedom, to voting rights, to climate change, racial justice, immigration, and the future of democracy itself, requires us to rebalance this court,'' she said.
''And today’s endorsement from the Progressive Caucus is a loud and clear message that we will not let this hyperpartisan 6-3 stolen court stand in the way of that progress. We will meet the urgency of the moment and expand the court.''
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