Biden wants bipartisan court fix

Commission would look at Supreme Court

WASHINGTON • Joe Biden announced he will form a “bipartisan” commission to study the possibility of overhauling the U.S. court system if he is elected to the White House, as Republicans advanced Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination Thursday.

The Democratic presidential candidate has been under pressure to give his position on the controversial idea of “court packing,” a proposal favoured by progressives to add more justices to the nine-member Supreme Court.

Biden has been reluctant to give a definitive answer on the matter but said last week he would make his position known to voters before election day. In an interview with CBS News, Biden said he would appoint a commission comprised of constitutional scholars and politicians from across the spectrum to consider “how to reform the court system because it's getting out of whack.”

It comes as Republicans moved at unprecedented speed to confirm Barrett, Donald Trump's nomination for a vacant seat on the Supreme Court, despite Democrats' opposition to the appointment. The Republican-held Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance Barrett's nomination, with all 12 Republicans on the panel voting to recommend her nomination.

All 10 Democrats on the committee boycotted the vote in protest at the decision to fast-track the vote before the presidential election.

Barrett, 48, has been a federal appeals court judge since 2017 and previously was a legal scholar the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Nominated on Sept. 26 to succeed the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barrett has criticized previous rulings upholding Obamacare but said during her confirmation hearing last week she has no agenda to invalidate the measure. She frustrated committee Democrats during the hearing by sidestepping questions on abortion, presidential powers, climate change and voting rights.

Her nomination will now move to a vote before the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority. The vote is planned for Monday.