President Joe Biden does not support increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court despite last week's decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked whether Biden had turned his focus to reforming the court in the aftermath of Friday's ruling that sent the abortion issue back to the states to regulate.
"I know I've — I've been asked — I was asked this question yesterday [Friday], and I've been asked it before — and I think the President himself — about doing — about expanding the Court," Jean-Pierre told reporters during a press gaggle Saturday on Air Force One.
"That is something that the President does not agree with. That is not something that he wants to do."
Some Democrats reacted to the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization by renewing calls to add more justices to the bench.
"This court has lost legitimacy," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on ABC News' "This Week." "They have burned whatever legitimacy they may still have had after their gun decision, after their voting decision, after their union decision. They just took the last of it and set a torch to it with the Roe v. Wade opinion.
"I believe we need to get some confidence back in our court, and that means we need more justices on the United States Supreme Court."
Biden in April 2021 named a panel to study Supreme Court reforms, such as adding justices or instituting term limits, fulfilling a campaign vow as progressives push to add more liberals to the conservative-leaning court.
Congressional Democrats also introduced legislation to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices.
In December, Biden's commission did not endorse expanding the court, but said there were "profound" differences of opinion over the direction the court should take in the future.
One reporter, noting that Democratic National Committee chairman called Friday's court ruling "illegitimate," asked Jean-Pierre during the press gaggle whether the president agreed with the DNC chair's assessment.
"I can't speak for the DNC. I can only speak for the President. And the President — you know, when the President commented about the decision, about the Court's ruling, it was about the decision," Jean-Pierre said. "He sees the Court, obviously, as legitimate. And he respects the Court."
Biden on Friday said the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion was a "sad day" that will deny women in America control of their own destiny.
The Supreme Court currently is comprised of six conservatives — Justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — and liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor.
Female leaders in the Democratic Party, including Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., took public shots at the Supreme Court after its decision was announced.
"Women are going to control their bodies, no matter how they try and stop us. The hell with the Supreme Court, we will defy them," Waters shouted to protesters outside the court building.