California Senate Candidate
2 July 2023
After this week of disastrous rulings from the Supreme Court, it’s clear that our highest Court is in desperate need of reform. And that starts with expanding and unstacking the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is, by far, the most unrepresentative U.S. institution in our government, yet it is also one of the most powerful.
I’ve spent years talking about the need to expand, unstack, and reform the Supreme Court after Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell stacked it with partisans. This week we saw firsthand the consequences of its imbalance.
In the four years following Mitch McConnell's refusal to even consider President Obama’s 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland to the Court, McConnell and Trump were able to push through three unpopular, problematic, far-right nominees.
This has led to a 6-3, partisan and reactionary Court majority that just this week has:
Ended affirmative action
Attacked LGBTQ+ rights
Struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan
That’s on top of overturning Roe v. Wade, just last year.
All of these rulings are shocking and heartbreaking and negatively affect countless Americans' lives — especially since SCOTUS is supposed to be an impartial and nonpartisan legal body — but given the makeup of this partisan Court, it’s also not surprising.
And with members of the Court enjoying lifelong appointments, we’re stuck with their staunchly partisan, extreme agenda for generations to come unless we act now.
Today’s Supreme Court is unfair, unjust, and no longer reflects what our founding fathers intended it to be — instead it’s being used as a purely partisan tool for Republicans to unilaterally reverse progress and strike down our fundamental rights.
We must unpack the Court by expanding the number of justices on the Court, instituting term limits, and enacting a code of ethics like every other federal court. I’m proud to be sponsoring legislation in Congress that will make these important reforms.
Congress must take action. It’s time we abolish the filibuster and unpack the Court if we want any chance of restoring legitimacy and ensuring our nation’s highest court doesn’t continue to be used to advance a partisan agenda at odds with the interests of the American people.
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