Some Congressional Democrats have renewed calls to pass legislation that would expand the Supreme Court. This hyper-partisan push would increase the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to thirteen, a civil-war era political tactic that has not been successfully employed since 1869, during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.
Democrats, and some in the media, would have you believe that the number of Supreme Court seats is intended to correspond with the number of circuit court districts within the United States, or the number of U.S. Citizens; however, both assertions are false. In fact, the U.S. Constitution does not outline any such intention, nor does any existing legislative precedent. We do know the Founders never intended for the structure of our high court to become a tool of partisanship; and manipulating the Court’s structure for political gain would undermine its integrity as an institution. I believe the structure of the Court should remain as it is, and ardently oppose any legislation to expand it.