Rubio reintroduces amendment to block court packing

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and a handful of his GOP Senate colleagues reintroduced a constitutional amendment on Friday that would mandate the Supreme Court have nine justices, seeking to block any future attempts by President Biden or his successors to expand the court.

A press release from the senator’s office blasted calls from some Democrats to expand the court in response to the three justices named during former President Trump’s term in office, including one just weeks before November’s presidential election.

“Packing the Supreme Court is a radical, left-wing idea that would further undermine America’s confidence in our institutions and our democracy,” Rubio said in the news release. “As a candidate, President Joe Biden promised to unify America, and even said he was ‘not a fan’ of packing the Supreme Court, a radical proposal he once referred to as a ‘bonehead idea’ when he served in the Senate.”

“If he is sincere about healing our country and protecting our institutions, he will support this effort to protect the Supreme Court,” the senator added.

White House officials did not immediately return a request for comment on Rubio’s statement.

Biden refused to officially take a position on whether he would expand the court during his campaign and said when questioned on the issue during an ABC News town hall in October that his answer “depends on how much [Republicans] rush” the confirmation of now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

That same month, he told an Ohio TV station that he was not a “fan” of packing the court while calling the issue a distraction.

“I’m not a fan of court packing, but I don’t want to get off on that whole issue. I want to keep focused,” then-candidate Biden told CBS affiliate WKRC. “The president would like nothing better than to fight about whether or not I would in fact pack the court or not pack the court.”