Coloradans deserve a clear answer on court- packing
The decision to pack the Supreme Court would have massive repercussions on the trust Americans place in the courts, as well as our whole system of government.
As a constitutional lawyer, I understand the critical importance of nominating and confirming qualified judges to serve on our courts. The judiciary is critical to our government and the American way of conducting justice. While every American may not agree with every decision, having an independent judicial branch is crucial to our nation’s future success.
Unfortunately, Democrats have a long history of trying to use the courts to implement their radical agendas that they can’t pass as legislation. Changing the courts has been a high priority for Democrats and progressives, dating back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s failed court- packing scheme in the 1930s.
In 2020, we have seen a renewed interest in court- packing from Democrat candidates who are frustrated their party didn’t win in 2016. Many of these candidates — who, if elected, would be called on to support Chuck Schumer’s decision to break a 150- year- old Supreme Court precedent — are trying to hide from revealing their position on court- packing. They shamefully call it a “hypothetical” that shouldn’t be answered.
These candidates are cowards. The decision to pack the Supreme Court would have massive repercussions on the trust Americans place in the courts, as well as our whole system of government. If these Democrats truly support blowing up a 150year precedent, they should at least tell voters the truth. What’s there to hide from?
Since 1869, the Supreme Court has consisted of nine justices. Through this 150- year- period, the Court has decided many of the complex, controversial issues our nation has faced. The Democrats’ plan to pack the Supreme Court with additional justices — all to garner themselves an unfair power advantage — throws all the precedents Americans count on into doubt.
Schumer and other Democrats are even trying to redefine “court- packing,” falsely claiming that Republicans choosing to fill vacant court seats actually constitutes court- packing. This is flat out wrong. Court- packing means one thing: adding seats to a court to gain power you can’t win legislatively. Republicans have only nominated and confirmed qualified judges for seats that were vacant; we don’t create new judgeships in order to appoint our own nominees. Yet this is precisely what some Democrats want to do, all because they’re still bitter about losing elections.
Here in Colorado, we’ve seen Senate candidate John Hickenlooper continually refuse to answer legitimate questions about his potential support for expanding the size of the Supreme Court. His evasion shows he knows Coloradans and Americans en masse won’t support the political destruction of our government. Yet, Hickenlooper is just too afraid to push back on Chuck Schumer and his extreme progressive supporters.
Sen. Cory Gardner has routinely supported qualified judges who will uphold the rule of law and won’t legislate from the bench. He’ll continue to be a senator that will always put our American institutions above politics. That’s precisely what a senator should do.
The Supreme Court was created to be independent: it’s a check and balance on the legislative and executive branches. Packing the Supreme Court would destroy the basic tenet of trust that the American people place in the court. It would destroy its purpose as an independent agent focused on interpreting the Constitution.
There was a reason FDR failed to remake the Supreme Court — his attempt would have destroyed the Court and undermined a key pillar our Republic is built on.
I’m proud that President Donald Trump and Sen. Gardner have fulfilled their constitutional obligation in nominating and approving strong, qualified judges to our courts. As a mother of school- age children and a lawyer myself, I’m proud to see Amy Coney Barrett join Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch as one of our nine Supreme Court Justices.