Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled her support for radical legislation that would allow a new Supreme Court justice to be appointed to the bench every two years, according to a Democratic senator.
“They have not gone so far as to say, ‘We endorse your bill.’ They have said that your bills are precisely aligned with what we are talking about,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) told The Dispatch last week when asked if the Harris campaign has voiced its support for legislation he proposed last October that would dramatically overhaul the high court.
Harris supports but has not “endorsed” legislation to revamp the Supreme Court, according to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). AP
Under Whitehouse’s bill, Supreme Court appointments would be “regularized,” with the president appointing a new justice biennially.
Only the nine most recently appointed justices would sit for “appellate jurisdiction” cases, which are typically the most high-profile cases with far-reaching effects, such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and former President Donald Trump’s immunity case.
The newly-appointed jurists would spend 18 years participating in appellate jurisdiction cases, after which they would be limited to hearing the court’s small number of “original jurisdiction” cases, such as those involving disputes between states.
President Biden and Harris announced their support for a revamped Supreme Court system last month in which a justice would be appointed every two years and spend 18 years in active service.
The proposal, however, was light on details and did not mention whether the reforms would be sought through congressional legislation, a constitutional amendment or executive action.
Whitehouse, at an event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention last week, further revealed that Democratic lawmakers are “virtually certain” to ram through a package of controversial legislative reforms – including the court-packing bill – if they win a controlling majority of the government in November.
“To get around the filibuster, we’re going to have to have a process that allows very substantial debate from the Senate minority,” Whitehouse said at an event hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice, according to The Dispatch. “We are not going to want to give the Republicans multiple stalls, multiple filibusters on this.”
“So the bill that gets around the filibuster will be virtually certain to include permanent reproductive rights, permanent restored voting rights, getting rid of corrupting billionaire dark money, and Supreme Court reform.”
Whitehouse predicted that a bill of that magnitude would have “spectacular tailwinds behind it” in Congress.
Whitehouse’s bill would see a new justice appointed every two years and have only the nine newest justices hear all cases on the high court’s docket. REUTERS
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed to reporters at the DNC that doing away with the upper chamber’s traditional three-fifths majority requirement to pass legislation is at the top of his agenda if Harris defeats former President Donald Trump and Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate.
Schumer noted that he did not have majority support for ending the filibuster after the 2022 midterm election cycle because of opposition from independent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia – who are both leaving the Senate next year.
The Harris campaign and Whitehouse’s office did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
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