The Republican Party and former President Donald Trump pledged to keep the Supreme Court at nine justices and reject any attempt by Democrats to pack the court, reads the party’s platform released Monday.
In the document adopted by the Republican National Committee’s Platform Committee, GOP officials vow to stop what they say is the left’s “weaponization” of government and the courts — including any assault on liberty.
“We will maintain the Supreme Court as it was always meant to be, at 9 Justices. We will not allow the Democrat Party to increase this number, as they would like to do, by 4, 6, 8, 10, and even 12 Justices. We will block them at every turn,” the platform reads.
The pushback comes after some Democratic lawmakers have vowed retaliation for the high court’s ruling in favor of Mr. Trump in his immunity battle from criminal prosecutions.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, posted on X that President Biden should add liberal justices to the bench to counter the 6-3 conservative majority cemented by Mr. Trump during his term in office.
Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell stole two seats on the Supreme Court, and we’re living with the consequences. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s time to expand the court,” she wrote Tuesday.
The day before Ms. Warren’s tweet, the justices ruled a president enjoys absolute immunity from prosecution for core presidential acts and is presumed to have immunity from other official conduct. But a president is not immune from nonofficial acts.
The ruling was 6-3, divided along ideological lines, and wasn’t a direct win for the former president, as it sent directives to lower courts on how to weigh his official versus unofficial conduct charged by special counsel Jack Smith.
Still, the ruling is expected to delay pending trials against Mr. Trump likely beyond Election Day.
In the country’s early days, the number of Supreme Court justices — set by Congress — ranged from as low as five to as many at 10. It has been set at nine justices since 1869.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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