Here’s what Biden wants to do.
In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, several Democratic lawmakers have come out in support of expanding the court, a move President Joe Biden does not support, according to a White House announcement.
On Saturday (June 24), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the President’s stance on expanding the Supreme Court during a press gaggle at Air Force One.
Mentioning she had been asked the question about expanding the court and acknowledging Biden had also received queries about the court’s expansion, Jean Pierre told reporters: “That is something that the President does not agree with. That is not something that he wants to do.”
The idea of court-packing reemerged when Roe v. Wade was overturned on Friday (June 24), with many Democratic lawmakers throwing their support behind the concept.
One of the initial voices calling for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), tweeted soon after the draft opinion leaked that: “A stolen, illegitimate, and far-right Supreme Court majority appears set to destroy the right to abortion, an essential right which protects the health, safety, and freedom of millions of Americans. There is no other recourse. We must expand the court.”
In a joint op-ed in the New York Times, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) briefly mentioned court packing as a solution to “fix the damage Republicans have done to our system,” mentioning “changing the composition of the courts” as one such solution.
Warren came out in stronger support of court-packing on Sunday (June 26), revealing in a segment on ABC News that she believes “we need to get some confidence back in our court, and that means we need more justices on the United States Supreme Court.”
