Jerry Nadler: “Some People Will Say, ‘We’re Packing The Court’, We’re Not Packing It, We’re Unpacking It”

[Image: Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)-- Newsmax video screenshot].

Posted By: Lindsey Michelle April 16, 2021

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), and Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Mondaire Jones (D-NY) have introduced the Judiciary Act of 2021 to expand the United States Supreme Court by adding four seats, creating a 13-justice Supreme Court.

Rep. Jerry Nadler claimed during a news conference Thursday that expanding the Supreme Court “is a much needed next step” as the “country and judicial system evolved” over time.

“Nine justices may have made sense in the 19th century when there were only 9 circuits. … But the logic behind only having 9 justices, is much weaker today when there are 13 circuit courts,” Rep. Nadler said, appearing to try to sell the idea to listeners.

“The Supreme Court … accepts cases in a tiny, tiny fraction of cases, and that means most cases, the vast majority of cases, the overwhelming majority of cases, don’t get considered by the Supreme Court, which they are entitled to do and throughout much of our history did,” he continued, without mentioning how the Supreme Court recently refused to hear the 2020 November election cases.

“Our predecessors made imminent sense when they pegged the size of the Supreme Court with the number of judicial circuits. As our country as grown, so to the Supreme Court. 13 justices for 13 circuits is a logical progression. And that is another reason why I am glad to join my colleagues in introducing the Judiciary Act of 2021 to establish the Supreme Court’s size as 13,” Nadler said.

Nadler alleged that adding 4 more justices to the bench “will enable us to do justice and to rectify the great injustice that was done in packing the court”, adding, “Some people will say, ‘We’re packing the court’, we’re not packing it, we’re unpacking it. Senator McConnell and Republicans packed the court over the last couple of years. … This is a reaction to that. It’s a necessary step in the evolution of the court, and I’m proud to co-sponsor it.” Video Below

 Rep. Jerry Nadler’s remarks:

Former President Donald Trump in 2018 mockingly thanked his predecessor former President Barack Hussein Obama for leaving so many judicial posts vacant.

“When I got in, we had over 100 federal judges that weren’t appointed,” President Trump said during a speech in Ohio. “I don’t know why Obama left that. It was like a big, beautiful present to all of us. Why the hell did he leave that?” adding, “Maybe he got complacent”.

“It was like the gift from heaven. We were left judges,” the 45th President said. “They are the ones that judge all your disputes. They judge on what’s fair on the environment and what’s not fair. Where they’re going to take your farms and factories away and where they’re not.”

Meanwhile on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed that she does not plan on supporting the Democrats’ court packing bill, but she supports Biden’s commission “to study” over whether to expand the nation’s highest court. Video Below

Last year, however, Pelosi appeared open to the idea of the packing the Supreme Court:

(Related: Schumer Warns “You Will Pay The Price” To SCOTUS Gorsuch & Kavanaugh During An Abortion Rights Rally)