by First Liberty Institute • 3 minutes
The far Left, politicians and some of the most radical groups in the country have been engaged in a full-scale effort to wrest control of the U.S. Supreme Court by any means necessary.
With this week’s election results, the brazen power grab of court “reform” appears to be quelled, for now.
For the past few years, court “reform” advocates put forward numerous proposals that would destroy judicial independence and the constitutional order. Those include court-packing, ending life tenure for justices and giving Congress the power to oversee the Court’s ethics. Some proposals would prevent the Court from hearing certain cases, effectively destroying the Court’s power of judicial review. They’ve poured millions of dollars trying to convince the public that these so-called “reforms” would “fix” the Supreme Court.
The far Left also launched a wave of attacks against the Court’s conservative justices. They levied fabricated accusations against them, supposed “ethics” scandals aimed at making Americans hallucinate misconduct. This line of attack was aimed at smearing the credibility of the justices so they can also undermine the authority of the Court’s rulings as well. It’s been clear what this is about: destroying the Court’s legitimacy.
A Trump presidency and a power shift in the Senate—now with a Republican majority—means these proposals and ideas are effectively null and void, at least for one congressional term. The prospect that court-packing or other “reform” legislation passes is slim to none.
“It’s unlikely we will see any substantive changes to the Supreme Court such as term limits or an enforceable code of ethics. In addition to a majority of votes in the House of Representatives and the signature of the President, those changes would require 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster, which will not happen in today’s polarized Senate,” former federal prosecutor, Neama Rahmani, told Newsweek.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley compared the power shift to what happened in 1937. A critical shift of one justice in a case ended President Franklin Roosevelt’s attempt to pack the Court. It was said that it was “a shift in time that saves nine.”
“In 2024, a shift in the Senate may have had the same impact,” Turley said. “Trump’s victory means that absent a renewal of the court-packing scheme and other extreme measures of the left, the Court will remain unchanged institutionally for at least a decade.”
“Many top Democrats have long eyed changes to the Supreme Court, whether it be expansion or some sort of ethics reform,” Business Insider reports. “But with Trump soon to be back in the White House and a Republican-led Senate on the way, those plans are on ice indefinitely.”
President-elect Trump has publicly criticized recent plans to overhaul the Court.
“The Radical Left Democrats are desperately trying to ‘Play the Ref’ by calling for an illegal and unConstitutional attack on our SACRED United States Supreme Court,” Trump wrote on Truth Social back in July. “The Democrats are attempting to…destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court. We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country.”
When President Biden announced sweeping and extreme changes to the Supreme Court, First Liberty responded by launching a national campaign to educate Americans about the dangers of these proposals.
Our Supreme Coup campaign to counter radical court “reform” has paid off tremendously. More than 750,000 Americans signed our Declaration of Judicial Independence saying “NO” to court packing, “NO” to suspect judicial reforms, and “NO” to the Supreme Court Coup.
Even still, many proponents of court-packing remain in power, and they could reenergize their brazen attempts to rig the courts for political gain.
If radical court “reform” resurfaces, First Liberty will be ready. Fighting for religious freedom is meaningless if the courts are politicized and turned into an extension of whomever holds power. We will do everything we can to protect the integrity of the courts and judicial independence.
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Fox News: Opinion | Trump’s victory puts an end to Democrat attacks on one branch of government
by Jonathan Turley
Donald Trump’s election this week means that the Supreme Court just moved out of harm’s way. The election means that court-packing schemes are now effectively scuttled.
Daily Caller: Jonathan Turley Previews What Supreme Court Might Look Like After Trump Finishes Second Term
by Harold Hutchison
“The Supreme Court dodged a bullet in that you had Democratic senators saying they wanted to pack the court,” Turley said. “That would have really been devastating to the court. But now, you also have a little more breathing room.”
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