AOC urges Biden to pack supreme court, says GOP doesn’t think Democrats have the ‘stones to play hardball’
New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has urged Joe Biden to expand the Supreme Court should he win November's election and the Democrats take control of the Senate while holding onto Congress.
"Republicans do this because they don’t believe Dems have the stones to play hardball like they do," said congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, just minutes after judge Amy Coney Barrett was installed on America's highest court.
"And for a long time they’ve been correct. But do not let them bully the public into thinking their bulldozing is normal, but a response isn’t. There is a legal process for expansion," Ms Ocasio-Cortez, representative for New York’s 14th congressional district, added.
Senators confirmed Judge Barrett's accession to the bench on Monday, securing a highly partisan win for president Donald Trump just days out from the 3 November poll.
Her appointment cements a 6-3 conservative-leaning majority in the court, which could influence voters yet to cast their ballots in an election that could reshape America for a generation.
A pro-life lawyer who is a favourite of Christian conservatives, Ms Barrett's promotion threatens to have implications for some of the most hotly contested issues in the states, such as abortion and health care.
Ever since Ms Barrett was chosen by the president last month to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Democrats had been mulling over how to redress the ideological imbalance her appointment would present.
They argue the GOP broke with its own 2016 precedent when they refused to vote on then-president Barack Obama's pick to replace Antonin Scalia.
But Republicans said they were within their rights to appoint a justice in an election year, citing the US constitution and "precedent".
In response, Democrats have threatened to pack to the court with more liberal-leaning justices in a bid to overturn the 6-3 deficit.
As congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez alluded to in her remarks last night, Democrats could do this by sending a bill through Congress and the Senate.
And with Mr Biden commanding a strong lead in the presidential election, there is a very real possibility that Democrats could control both houses come next year.
Whether Democrats decide to press ahead with packing the court remains an open question. Any bill would be met with fierce opposition from GOP lawmakers.
House speaker said: "Should we expand the court, lets take a look and see."
Keen not to put off any floating voters thinking of swinging blue, Mr Biden has — while criticising Ms Barrett's appointment — taken a more nuanced approach to dealing with the 6-3 conservative majority.
Earlier this week, he said he announced that, if elected, he would appoint a special commission to study the US court and report back with recommendations on the supreme court.
“The last thing we need to do is turn the supreme court into just a political football, [that means] whoever has the most votes gets whatever they want,” said Mr Biden.
“Presidents come and go. Supreme court justices stay for generations,” he added.
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