EXCLUSIVE — A coalition of conservatives and legal groups sent a letter to Congress on Monday urging lawmakers to pass the “Keep 9” constitutional amendment to curb Democrats’ threats of adding additional justices to the Supreme Court.
The Constitution does not set the Supreme Court at a specific number of justices, but the high court’s bench has remained at the current nine-justice configuration since 1869. With the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority, left-wing groups and some Democrats have increasingly called for expanding it to 13 members, seemingly to flip the ideological balance of the high court. A coalition of conservative and legal organizations, led by Advancing American Freedom President Tim Chapman and Liberty Justice Center Chairwoman and CEO Sara Albrecht, sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to maintain the high court’s independence by locking in the number of justices at nine via a constitutional amendment.
“For over 150 years, the Supreme Court has consisted of one chief justice and eight associate justices. Although a nine-justice Court is not constitutionally required, adding justices now would serve no purpose but to politicize, and thus undermine the legitimacy of, the Court and its rulings,” said the letter, shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner.
“Court packing from either party would be devastating for the rule of law in our Nation. Only amending the Constitution to enshrine the nine-justice Court would secure its independence against the threat of court-packing once and for all,” the letter continued.
The letter mentioned that both Republicans and Democrats had previously rejected President Franklin Roosevelt’s bid to pack the Supreme Court in the 1930s, after a series of unfavorable rulings by the high court. The groups also pointed to comments by former President Joe Biden, when he served in the Senate, in which he called court packing a “bonehead idea.”
“Only in the last few years has the bipartisan consensus against the threat of court-packing weakened,” the letter signed by more than 50 groups said. “Two proposals have called for the number of justices to be changed to thirteen, ostensibly to restore the integrity of the Court. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“The first round of court packing would immediately undermine the Court’s independence and would only lead to retaliatory court packing when the congressional majority changed. The Supreme Court would become an arm of the party in power, rather than a meaningful check on government power,” the letter continued, pointing to Venezuela as an example of when packing a country’s high court can undermine the judiciary’s independence.
The letter, urging Congress to pass a resolution to set in motion a constitutional amendment process, was signed by leaders of prominent conservative groups, including the John Locke Foundation, Americans for Limited Government, and the Independent Women’s Law Center. Former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum and Students for Life Action were also among the signatories.
“Packing the Supreme Court would undermine judicial independence, erode public trust, and weaken one of the Constitution’s most important checks on government power,” Chapman, who led the letter, told the Washington Examiner. “The Court exists to interpret the law — not deliver partisan outcomes. The House should pass H. J. Res. 1 to protect the Court’s integrity and preserve the separation of powers for generations to come.”
IN FOCUS: SUPREME COURT TERM SHOWS CONTRAST BETWEEN JUSTICES WHO DOMINATE ARGUMENTS VERSUS DECISIONS
While Democrats’ calls to expand the Supreme Court have quieted with the GOP in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, during the Biden administration, several Democrats pushed proposals to expand the Supreme Court’s bench or to install term limits on the justices. As control of both chambers of Congress appears to be a toss-up leading into November’s midterm elections, several Democratic candidates have renewed calls to expand the Supreme Court beyond nine justices.
Although Democrats have accused the conservative majority on the high court of being partisan and a rubber stamp for President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court handed the president several major losses during the last term. The Supreme Court ruled against the president’s sweeping tariffs, his order on birthright citizenship, and his bid to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, among other losses.