Biden Supreme Court Commission Divided on Adding Justices to Supreme Court

President Joe Biden's commission on the Supreme Court issued draft documents Thursday showing members are divided on the question of whether to add seats to the nation's top court.

While some commissioners agree, at least in part, with critics who want the court expanded, others conclude that "Court expansion is likely to undermine, rather than enhance, the Supreme Court's legitimacy and its role in the constitutional system, and there are significant reasons to be skeptical that expansion would serve democratic values," the commission said.

The calls have "Been fueled by Democrats' concerns that an increasingly conservative court presents a threat to the progressive conception of the Constitution across a range of issues, including firearms, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, health care, climate change, and affirmative action," the commissioners said.

"The risks of court expansion are considerable, including that it could undermine the very goal of some of its proponents of restoring the court's legitimacy. Recent polls suggest that a majority of the public does not support court expansion. And as even some supporters of Court expansion acknowledged during the commission's public hearings, the reform-at least if it were done in the near term and all at once-would be perceived by many as a partisan maneuver," commissioners said.

Commissioners appeared more favorable to arguments for setting term limits for justices or rotating judges between the Supreme Court and lower courts.

A number of scholars have endorsed tenure limits and a look at published works on the subject "Discovered few works arguing against term limits," the commission said, adding that the United States is the "Only major constitutional democracy in the world that has neither a retirement age nor a fixed term of years for its high court Justices."

His executive order says it was meant to put forth a history of the role of the Supreme Court, including an account of "Contemporary commentary and debate" about that role, and an analysis of the leading arguments for and against adding seats.

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