The idea of court-packing is one Joe Biden was once opposed, calling it a “bonehead idea” during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 1983.
Biden’s comments were made responding to an attempt from then-President Ronald Reagan who sought to replace three members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The current Democrat nominee for the presidency had argued against the move, comparing it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unsuccessful attempts in 1937 to pack the Supreme Court.
“President Roosevelt clearly had the right to send to the United States Senate and the United States Congress a proposal to pack the court,” Biden argued.
“It was totally within his right to do that. He violated no law. He was legalistically, absolutely correct.”
He continued, “But it was a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make.”
“It put in question, if for an entire decade, the independence of the most-significant body … in this country, the Supreme Court of the United States of America,” he definitively stated.
RELATED: If Biden Won’t Tell You Where He Stands on Packing the Supreme Court, He Doesn’t Deserve Your Vote
Biden Was In Line With Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Citing FDR
Biden’s comments at the time were perfectly on par with the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose unfortunate passing earlier this year led to an opening on the court Republicans are trying to fill Constitutionally.
In an interview with NPR last year, Ginsburg opposed the idea of expanding the court.
“Nine seems to be a good number. It’s been that way for a long time,” she said, adding, “I think it was a bad idea when President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court.”
Listen to Ruth Bader Ginsburg on court packing: pic.twitter.com/8fLlnl2T19
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) October 10, 2020
Ginsburg went on to say court-packing would almost immediately make the Supreme Court appear partisan.
“If anything would make the court appear partisan, it would be that,” she said. “One side saying ‘when we’re in power was only to enlarge the number of judges so we will have more people who will vote the way we want them to.'”
“So I am not at all in favor of that solution to what I see is a temporary situation.”
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Biden’s New Position on Court-Packing
Biden’s latest position on court-packing is, well … not to have a position at all. Or worse, simply to hide his intentions.
During a campaign swing in Phoenix last week, Biden said the country would “know my position on court-packing when the election is over.”
Joe Biden:
“You’ll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over.” pic.twitter.com/uYEXZHHAp1
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 8, 2020
When confronted on that by another reporter who asked, “Don’t the voters deserve to know?” Biden disagreed.
“No they don’t deserve – I’m not gonna play [President Trump’s] game,” Biden responded, adding that Trump would “love that to be the discussion instead of what he’s doing now.”
Asked if voters deserve to know if he would pack the Supreme Court, Biden says “No, they don’t deserve” to. pic.twitter.com/uig5d14tsH
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) October 10, 2020
Biden’s evasiveness on the court-packing issue is a slap in the face to every American hoping to make an informed decision in November.
