Democrats set to introduce bill to expand Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – A hot-button issue during the presidential campaign is front-and-center in Washington Thursday.

A group of congressional Democrats is ready to unveil legislation seeking to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court from 9 justices to 13, something conservatives fiercely oppose as political court-packing.

Progressive fury over the court has been growing, after former President Trump appointed three conservative justices, including one in an election year after Republicans blocked President Obama from naming Merrick Garland to the court in 2016

There have been nine Supreme Court justices since the 1800s

The bill to permanently add justices is unlikely to pass a divided Congress but it puts pressure on President Biden. During the campaign, Biden said he was “not a fan of expanding the court.” But last week followed through on a promise to form a commission to study the issue

Biden on 60 Minutes said, “I will ask them to come back to me with recommendations about how to reform the court system because it’s getting out of whack. Presidents come and go, Supreme Court justices stay for generations.”

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