‘Court packing’ idea gains steam,

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday has revived talk about an idea that has been bandied about for years but, until recently, not feasibly considered by people in a position to enact it: court packing.

The term is commonly associated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who unsuccessfully pushed legislation in 1937 that could have expanded the Supreme Court from nine to as many as 15 justices. The history is more complicated than the usual narrative suggests: Roosevelt, aiming to push older justices to step down, wanted to add a justice to the court for each sitting justice who refused to retire after 70.

More than eight decades later, the idea of expanding the court is back. In 2016, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, refused to hold a Senate vote on Merrick Garland, who was nominated to the court by lame duck President Barack Obama after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

McConnell’s move led some Democrats, including the presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, to suggest expanding the court.

The Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, rejected the idea last year, telling Iowa Starting Line, “No, I’m not prepared to go on and try to pack the court, because we’ll live to rue that day.”

Sen. Ed Markey, DMass., tweeted Friday night: “Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.”