The Supreme Court Is Out Of Control
The Problem
Right-wing extremists have hijacked the Supreme Court. For decades, conservatives have been appointing judges who would unfailingly carry out their political agenda. Now, the Court is out of touch with the will of the American people and actively attacking our fundamental freedoms.
For example, the Court dismantled decades worth of progress in 2022. Time and time again, the Court sided with right-wing interests over our fundamental rights, gutting gun safety legislation, severely limiting federal government’s ability to fight climate change, and ending the right to an abortion for millions of Americans.
How did we get here? Conservatives packed the Supreme Court with radical ideologues. Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell made three lifetime appointments to the Court, eliminating the filibuster to push through their Supreme Court picks.
The result? Today’s Supreme Court is made up of a 6-3 conservative majority that does not reflect our country’s politics or diversity. In fact, a majority of the justices are older, wealthy, straight white men—and more than half of the justices were appointed by presidents who lost the national popular vote.
To make matters worse, Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Ginni played a significant role in the January 6th insurrection. Yet Justice Thomas hasn’t even recused himself from cases regarding January 6th. Why? Because the Supreme Court is currently the only federal judicial bench with no code of ethics.
The Solution
The American people deserve a Supreme Court that protects our rights. Luckily, two bills have been introduced in Congress to address this legitimacy crisis and check conversative overreach from the highest court in the land.
The Judiciary Act would expand the Court and help restore ideological balance by adding four new seats to the bench, and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act would introduce a long overdue code of ethics for the Supreme Court.
Though change this big won’t happen overnight, it is achievable if we build the political will to make it happen. Our Constitution doesn’t dictate the number of judges the Court must have, nor does it take a constitutional amendment to expand it. In fact, Congress has changed the size of the Supreme Court seven times.
What You Can Do
Both the Judiciary Act and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act have been introduced in the House, but we need to get more Democratic members signed on as cosponsors.
Contact your member of Congress and let them know that you won’t stand for a radical, unrepresentative Supreme Court taking away our fundamental freedoms. Tell them to cosponsor both the Judiciary Act and the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act today.