Should More Justices be Added to the Supreme Court?

When the Supreme Court issues major decisions such as overturning Roe v. Wade, the idea of "court packing" is bound to come up.

Originally, the Supreme Court had six seats, a number that changed several times before settling at nine in 1869. After Roe was overturned, progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for more justices to be added to the court. Warren told ABC News that she believes "we need to get some confidence back in our court and that means we need more justices." Conversely, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday that court packing "is something that the president does not agree with."

Some left-rated voices called for the court to add more justices; right-rated voices often criticized that plan. One writer for The Guardian accused conservatives of manipulating the court "to thwart the will of the people with the help of hundreds of millions in rightwing dark money," and that court expansion "must be considered a central piece of any plan to protect American traditions of majority rule." One writer for The Daily Signal said conservatives "worked within the system to create serious and lasting change" on the court, and accused liberals of seeking to destroy "any institution they don’t immediately control."