Dem Legislators Reintroduce Bill to Expand Supreme Court

A group of Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced a bill that would add four new seats to the U.S. Supreme Court following several controversies involving the court.

"When a bully steals your lunch money in the schoolyard, you have to do something about it, or else the bully will come back over and over again. So we're in this fight, and we're going to reclaim these seats. We're not going to allow the bully to win," Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said on Tuesday during a press conference outside the Supreme Court.

Last month, Markey joined his fellow Massachusetts Democrats Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley as they embarked on a nationwide bus tour to call for the expansion of the Supreme Court and the creation of a binding code of ethics for justices.

The move comes as the court falls under increased scrutiny due to the relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and major Republican donor Harlan Crow, and almost one year after the court overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that sparked an outcry among pro-choice advocates.

"Today, a 6-3, far-right supermajority on the United States Supreme Court threatens our rights, our democracy and our planet. To restore our democracy, we must expand the United States Supreme Court, and we must do so now. Republicans captured the court against the will of most Americans," Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said during the press conference.

Markey and Johnson were joined by Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., as well as leaders from Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro Choice America.

"The moment is calling for us to realize that this is necessary that we have fairness, that we have balance in our Supreme Court," Jacqueline Ayers, Planned Parenthood's vice president of policy, campaigns and advocacy, said at the time.

"To have Planned Parenthood and NARAL stand here today and say part of the response to the Dobbs ruling needs to be structural reform of the Supreme Court is a game changer. I think it will have a huge ripple effect in terms of building more support," added Brian Fallon, the executive director of the progressive group Demand Justice.