Ted Cruz leads proposed amendment to prevent Supreme Court-packing

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Six Republican Senators have proposed a constitutional amendment to prevent Democrats from “packing” the Supreme Court, the Hill reported Monday.

“Packing” a court means allowing for additional judges to sit on a judicial bench: a number of Democrat lawmakers have indicated they would like to add justices to the Supreme Court if Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden is elected and Democrats control the Senate after the November 3 general election. As at Tuesday morning, Biden has not confirmed whether he is in favor of packing the Court.

The US constitution currently does not specify how many justices should sit in the Supreme Court. However, for the last 150 years, there have been nine justices on this bench. Spear-headed by Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), the proposed Republican amendment states: “The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices.” The amendment would need to be approved by a majority of two-thirds in both the Senate and Congress and would have to be ratified by 38 out of the 50 states, the Hill reports.

In a statement about the need for an amendment on Supreme Court-packing, Cruz said: “Make no mistake, if Democrats win the election, they will end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court, expanding the number of justices to advance their radical political agenda, entrenching their power for generations, and destroying the foundations of our democratic system.”

Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, there are currently five conservative justices and three liberal justices on the Supreme Court. Controlling the Senate, Republicans quickly held confirmation hearings for conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by Justice Ginsburg. A Senate vote to approve Barrett’s appointment is set for October 22.

If Barrett’s appointment is confirmed as expected, there will be six conservative justices and three liberal justices on the Court. Following Brett Kavanaugh (55 years old) and Neil Gorsuch (53 years old), Barrett (48 years old) will be the third Supreme Court Justice to be confirmed by Republicans in four years. Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life.

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