When Mitch McConnell refused to hold a hearing after President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court, it ended any illusions that the Court is a nonpartisan body. While the confirmation process used to be uncontroversial and nonpartisan—one hundred percent of Senate Democrats voted to confirm Scalia in 1986—the votes now break down largely along partisan lines. Only one Democrat voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
But McConnell's refusal to give Garland a hearing was unprecedented. Democrats have a valid claim that the seat‚ ultimately filled by Neil Gorsuch, was stolen.
In their desire to rectify that injustice, many Democrats are now lobbying to pack the Supreme Court—to raise the total number of judges from nine to eleven, thirteen, or fifteen, and then fill those new seats with left-leaning judges to shift the Court's ideological balance back in their favor. New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie framed court packing as the best way for Democrats to play hardball and get even “for the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh nominations.” Many Democratic presidential candidates, including Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, have suggested they are at least open to the idea.
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