Democrats are renewing their calls to pack the Supreme Court with an instant liberal majority once they retake power. Rep. Seth Moulton (D., Mass.), who is facing a complaint over an alleged assault of a reporter, demanded the packing of the Court due to its decision to allow President Donald Trump to rescind Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Other members have joined the effort, citing the reversal of immigration decisions as the reason for eviscerating one of the most important institutions in our country.
Moulton is running for the Senate and has been seeking to reinforce his credentials as a far-left member after being attacked for objecting to the lack of tolerance in his party. This effort of realignment included publicly “sheltering” an undocumented person in his congressional office.
Now, like other Democrats seeking higher office, such as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Moulton is offering up the Supreme Court to the most radical elements of his party.
I previously wrote on the 6-3 decision in Mullin v. Doe, allowing Trump to remove TPS from certain Haitian and Syrian illegal immigrants. That is the same discretion that President Joe Biden used to allow over a million such individuals to enter the country “temporarily” years ago. In the case of the Haitians, they received the TPS designation in 2010 after a devastating earthquake — 15 years ago on a temporary basis.
Before addressing the call to pack the Court over such a decision, it is worth noting that this was not, in my view, a particularly close case if you believed in following the text of such laws. Section 1254a(b)(5)(A) provides that “[t]here is no judicial review of any determination of the [Secretary of Homeland Security] with respect to the designation, or termination or extension of a designation, of a foreign state.”
The three dissenting liberal justices, and these members, chose to dismiss that language. The majority of justices did not.
The dissenting justices sounded more like legislators in objecting to the lifting of the status quo, citing their own views of the merits of such decisions. It is a glimpse into what a packed court would likely look like if these Democratic members are successful.
Mouton wrote on X that “Democrats need to reform the court to preserve our rights and protect TPS families.”
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D., N.Y.) joined Moulton added that the court packing is designed to force the reversal of opinions that she and the other Democrats disagree with: “It’s clear now that this legislative body must seize back the power that our increasingly unequal branches have stolen, and that must start with action to protect the hundreds of thousands of TPS holders whose lives depend upon it.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) also went public to reaffirm that Democrats are “absolutely” going to proceed with packing the Court because I think what the Supreme Court has done yesterday is, again, rubber stamp a mass deportation agenda.”
The resolution itself is ripped from the campaign rhetoric on the rise of fascism, accusing the Court of “enabling authoritarian efforts.” The irony is lost on the members that the very signature of authoritarianism is to gut courts to force the outcomes that you demand.
It also ignores that this Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled against this President on major cases, limited his authority, and, as a result, has been attacked by the President in furious public statements.
Nevertheless, various figures from Kamala Harris to Pete Buttigieg to Elizabeth Warren supported the packing of the Court.
James Carville declared, “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust. Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it.”
This Nike School of Constitutional Law is catching on with a wide array of pundits and professors. Just do it.
Years ago, Harvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election.” However, he warned that “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.
Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder has put packing the Supreme Court front and center, explaining, “[We’re] talking about the acquisition and the use of power if there is a Democratic trifecta in 2028.”
At base is a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the Court. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) not only renewed her previous call to pack the court but said the court was illegitimate for rendering decisions against “widely held public opinion.” Former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said the court “defies the will of the people.” Reporter John Haltiwanger insisted that “the court is clearly not representative of the U.S. public. It’s supposed to be the people’s court.”
In reality, the court was never meant to be that. It was meant to be the Constitution’s court, designed to stand against everyone and everything except the Constitution. In a system designed to protect the minority, the court (like the Constitution) is counter-majoritarian in much of what it does.
With the Supreme Court removed as a barrier to the left’s radical agenda, Democrats could indeed fulfill the objectives laid out by figures like Klarman to ensure they never lose power again.
That will make the 2028 election the most consequential election for our constitutional history in decades. Citizens will vote not only on the next president but also on the future of a core institution that has brought stability and moderation to our political system for 250 years.
There is no fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the SCOTUS. The present Democratic Party knows exactly what the role is and that is why they cannot tolerate it’s independence. They want the SCOTUS to rubberstamp their ascension to power and their destruction of the Republic. FDR was of the same mind when he wanted to pack the court but saner minds in the Democratic Party of the 1930’s prevailed. There are no such minds in the Democratic Party now except for Fetterman and he might bolt the Party.
The fact that such a move by the Democrats would likely provoke a violent response is beyond them.
Their actions remind me of a quote from the Viet Nam War era. “We had to destroy the village in order to save it!” In their quest for power at any cost, they would destroy the Republic but that would be as far as their got because what would come after would be a nightmare for us all and saving the republic would be the least of our worries.
Do they not understand that assassins can work both ways. Have they even thought about the likelihood of their own personal survival if they push down this road. How many are they willing to sacrifice. They already sacrificed a bystander in Pennsylvania, and Charlie Kirk in Utah and nearly the President. How many of their friends and colleagues are they willing to lose. Some Actions in Politics cannot easily be undone or simply walked away from.
I hate to be dark about this but there are people inside and outside this country that are quire willing to push us over the edge. Sanity would argue the Democrats clean up their party and appeal to the people who already live here.
Strange that these voices come so much from many failed and failing states.
It is uite bizzare that democrats are calling to pack the court to reverse decisions to restore power to congress, when the core to these decisions is following laws passed by congress.
Democrats can get what they want by CHANGING THE LAW
They are not looking to end the court usurping the power of congress.
They are looking to end the power of congress and transform the supreme court into the sole branch of government.
The irony is the SCOTUS is just enforcing the laws put in place by the other branches. If they want change, make new laws. If they would learn how to legislate and govern, something might get done.
The likelihood of the Democrats retaking the WH or the senate is remote at best for 2028. In fact, the coming mid-term should tell us just how pernicious the infiltration of Stalinists in the party of FDR will be. Just as most of the recent winners came out of nowhere, they will quickly return there when they and traditional Democrats come head-to-head. They served their purpose by getting rid of the old school idiots but the cost of doing so requires that we afford them their 15 minutes of fame. After that, it’s over and back to regular order. These Stalinists represent causes that are anti-American at best and seditious at worst. This is not the sentiment that exists outside the big misrun sanctuary cities where white liberals buy their freedom from enslavement by electing fools. It affords them safety while they enjoy their double lattes, NY Times, and chocolate croissants while wearing their Free Palestine t-shirts at the local Starbucks. But it means nothing to the average American and its effect will be brief. Their causes are not America’s causes and their constituents, to the extent they have them, are enshrined at colleges and universities where they preach their hate and sooth their envy and loss of self-worth by passing their angst along to the next generation.
Any Democrat that sits in a very blue or even moderately blue district will have to become a socialist, anti-Israel, Jew hating, Palestinian loving communist in order to survive. Guys like Moulton will have to be more and more radical and it will split the country even further apart. Watch as Hakeem Jeffries starts to dislodge any support for selling arms to Israel to defend themselves against our shared enemies. Watch as Schumer loses his Senate seat. Watch as big mouths like Warren and Bernie actually become the face of the party.
Remember in 2020 during the Democrat debates for president when every candidate raised their hands for the most insane things as Republicans ran their cameras to film future ads? Well what do you think the next campaign will look like as the candidates move far left to appease the DSA and the young idiots in order to win the nomination as they stake out positions that will doom them in the general.
The party is in a doom loop right now.
“t will have to become a socialist, anti-Israel, Jew hating, Palestinian loving communist in order to survive. Guys like Moulton will have to be more and more radical and it will split…”
You are sick deranged nutjob.
Telling the truth scares you? I bet it does,
Democrats lust for power. It’s greed beyond reason. They are ready and willing to destroy a system of checks and balances that has lasted for nearly 250 years in order to impose their wet dream of one-party Democrat rule forever.
The bottom line here is that the Democrats and their communist allies (DSA) want everything, as in every single thing, their way. No compromises, period. The illegal immigrants (even convicted murderers), TPS, ICE, and the other objections are merely the latest reasons to pack the Court. If they win, America loses, probably permanently.
These are such obnoxious, lawless people. It is an embarrassment that they are part of our government. They whine when the rules that have served this exceptional nation for 250 years (OK — 1787 on the constitution, but the point remains) don’t please them. They’re like the child who loses at a game of monopoly and then turns the board upside down and has a tantrum on the floor. You can’t work with them and you can’t play with them. They are all about themselves and don’t care about anything other than their own gain. Hopefully, Moulton will be expelled from Congress for the assault and battery conviction that he so richly deserves. But he probably doesn’t even have the self-awareness that he did anything wrong — because his assault was on a journalist asking a question that goes to the heart of the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of his party.
Taking seriously recent comments by the vice chairman of the Democrat, socialist of America,Moulton and the rest of his minions have far more to concern themselves with then Donald Trump. The DSA is not quiet about its intent to continue using the Democrat party and the political process to infiltrate and subsume same hence insinuating itself into government to the extent that their agenda and goals are fully realized.
Just look at NY..
They voted for this mess, and it will get worse.
The Democrats are now borrowing a rap name for their party. The Democrats are now the party of TO-PACK.
Why didn’t God give us the Constitution when he gave us the Bible?
That would have made things easier.
One thing I find confusing is that after Professor Turley states that the 2028 election will be of utmost importance due to the DEMOCRATS wanting to pack the Court, something he obviously is vehemently against, he is still a registered Democrat.
@hullbobby, great question, I had the same thought. So will he vote to elect one of these Marxist bent on the destruction of the USA or rally openly against his party?
Hull
I don’t get it either.
But time will tell. If this keeps up, at one point Turley might be forced to denounce the dem party and walk away.
Leftist have indeed been losing power with the electorate for years. But they still get elected because they have successfully used the tyranny of the minority and accommodating republicans to undermine election integrity.
Early voting.
No voter id.
Mail voting.
Extending vote counting for weeks.
America will never be a communist country -DJT
leftys Go find something else to pack, perhaps your bags.
Even more frightening than the Dems’ march to the far left is the incessant drumbeat of packing the Court. That will be ballgame. It’s not something only the Far Left Loons in the party want, so it’s not like there will be moderation of that mission. James Carville has crowed on and on about how the Dems need to regain AND hold power (forever) by “any means necessary.” And yet now he is saying a schism in the party is in the offing. Be afraid. Be very afraid of these power-hungry communist, would-be despots.
Bah haha – so the lefty whack jobs have a problem with Norm-Destroying DJT but their first instinct is to destroy original institutions of this country to get what they want? So starting an Arms Race for SCOTUS seats is surely going to make things better in this country. In several iterations we will have a SCOTUS Congress that will ultimately have elected members from all factions of the universe to hear cases – except during campaign season of course. Just lunacy but you can’t fix stupid from either party.
Democratic Members Call for Packing the Supreme Court to Give Themselves Unconstitutional Forever Power With A Socialist Dictatorship.
As the good professor calls it in “Rage and the Republic,” Democratic Despotism.
The evolution of the English language. Temporary is permanent
“Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.” (John Adams)
Men are women, women are men
Freedom is slavery, slavery is freedom.
Education is indoctrination, knowledge is dangerous.
Law breaking should be excused, law abiding should be punished.
Democracy is dictatorship, republics produce kings.
Socialism produces wealth, capitalism brings poverty.
History is wrong and must be rewritten.
Court Packing = Terrible Idea
The sign of losers. I personally do NOT think Democrats are ever again going to take power/majority in Congress. Too many middle of the road voters. Too many Independents. Extremists, on either side today, will lose. Democrats have been losing power steadily yhe last 30 years, this will only hasten that losing slide.
Your mouth to God’s ears. Hope you’re right. For independents, the one or two intellectually-honest Dems left, and power-hungry establishment Dems like Schumer, what happened in NYC last week is enough to scare the pants off of them.
If court packing is such a good idea then the democrats should help President Trump to pack the Supreme, appeals and lower courts now.
This is just like the ‘For The People Act” which would have federalized elections while the Democrats held the power in the House and Senate. The Democrats were all for federalizing the elections. Now the Democrats are wrongly claiming that Trump is trying to federalize the elections with the SAVE Act. What changed? Why were the Democrats for federalizing election then and against it now? Because they were in power then and are out of power now. That tells you it is a bad idea if who in power is the difference of whether they support the idea or not.
You ignore the Democrats ability to cheat at all levels of government.
Destroy MAGA now!
Bot
Destroy MAGA now!
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It’s called the voting box. That’s where you have to win. Telling you right now that far left, MEGA left, positions will be the end of power. Middle of the road Independents, like me, won’t buy in to that kind of extremism.
Screech louder as you are forced to live in the greatest country in human history, remade by Trump!
sorry commie!
Why? Other than your personal derangement give us a list of logical reasons.