Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled her support for radical legislation that would allow a new Supreme Court justice to be appointed every two years, according to Democratic senators.
“They’re not saying, ‘We support your bill,’ they’re saying your bill is exactly what we’re talking about,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-N.Y. dispatch “Yes,” he said last week when asked if the Harris campaign had voiced support for a bill she proposed in October to overhaul the Supreme Court.
under White House BillSupreme Court appointments would be “regularized,” meaning the president would appoint a new justice every two years.
Only nine recently appointed justices have “appellate jurisdiction” cases — cases that are generally the most high-profile and far-reaching in impact, such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and former President Donald Trump’s immunity lawsuit.
The newly appointed judges would serve 18 years on cases over which they have appellate jurisdiction, after which they would be limited to hearing cases over which the court has a small number of “original jurisdiction,” such as disputes between states.
President Biden and Ms Harris announced last month that they support reforming the Supreme Court system, in which justices would be appointed every two years and serve 18 years on active duty.
But the proposal contains few details and does not say whether reforms would be pursued through parliamentary legislation, constitutional amendment or executive action.
Whitehouse further made it clear last week, at an event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention, that Democrats are “almost certain” to push through a series of controversial legislative reforms, including a bill to expand the courts, if they win a governing majority in November.
“Avoiding the filibuster would require a process that allows for very substantive debate by the Senate minority,” Whitehouse said at an event hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice, according to the Dispatch. “We don’t want to give Republicans multiple foot-dragging and filibusters.”
“So any bill that can avoid a filibuster would almost certainly include permanent reproductive rights, permanently restored voting rights, eliminating corrupt billionaire dark money, and reforming the Supreme Court.”
Whitehouse predicted that a bill of that size would receive “tremendous traction” in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged to reporters at the Democratic National Convention that a top priority would be to eliminate the Senate’s traditional three-fifths vote requirement to pass legislation if Harris defeats former President Donald Trump and Democrats gain control of both chambers of Congress.
Schumer noted that there were not enough senators in favor of ending the filibuster after the 2022 midterm elections because of opposition from independent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who are retiring from the Senate next year.
Harris’ campaign and the White House office did not respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment.
