President Biden is said to be gearing up to form a bipartisan commission tasked with studying potential reforms to the Supreme Court and federal judiciary, Politico first reported. The president’s new commission is labeled as bipartisan, but the idea was triggered by Senate Republicans’ swift confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the final weeks of former President Trump’s term. From Politico:
The idea for a commission came together amid the push by Republican senators to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in the weeks before the November election. Under intense pressure to consider reforms to the Supreme Court’s composition — including court expansion — Biden performed a classic Washington, D.C., punt. He announced in October that if he was elected, he would form such a commission to study structural changes. But Biden also conceded he is ‘not a fan of court packing.’
While under pressure from the far-left to embrace court packing, Biden declined to articulate his stance on expanding the size of the Supreme Court while running for president. He said in October that he would hate to see the high court be utilized as a “political football,” but also told voters in the final month of his campaign that his stance on court packing would be revealed after the election.
Joe Biden: "You’ll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over" pic.twitter.com/UdFaOBwRRN
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 8, 2020
While Biden has given no clear view of court packing, Vice President Harris said during the Democratic presidential primary that she is “open to” the idea of adding justices to the court.
