Opposition to Packing the Court Coming From More Moderate Democrats

As it turns out, it’s not going to be easy for the radical Democrats to pack the court with Constitution-destroying liberals. There are several less loony Democratic senators who are cool to the idea and some are downright opposed.

Why is that important? Best-case scenarios for the election have Democrats winning a Senate majority of 52-48. The most likely scenario is a Democratic majority of 51-49. Assuming all remaining Republicans would vote against a bill packing the court, court-packers would need almost every single Democratic vote just for a majority.

And what of the filibuster? Democrats dream of the day they can run roughshod over the minority by eliminating the 60-vote threshold. But many of the same anti-court-packing senators balk at the notion of getting rid of the filibuster.

While this represents a ray of hope for saving the judicial system from radical machinations, it’s a slim chance. The post-election atmosphere is likely to be even more bitter and rancorous than it is now. There’s no telling what these red-state Democratic senators would do if the election is contested.

The Hill:

“I think the filibuster serves a purpose. … I think it’s part of the Senate that differentiates itself,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told reporters in the wake of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.

Feinstein sparked progressive ire over her handling of Barrett’s confirmation hearing, including calls from a growing number of organizations for her to step down as the top Democrat on the committee. If Democrats win back the majority Feinstein is in line to become the chairwoman.

Feinstein is a traditionalist, and that means something in the very traditional Senate. Most of the long-serving senators from both parties have an abiding respect for the rules as they have come down through the centuries and see no reason to change them.

That goes for some other senators as well.

But members of the Senate Democratic Conference including [W.V. Senator Joe] Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, have expressed opposition to nixing the filibuster, expanding the Supreme Court or both.

“I will do anything and everything I can in a bipartisan way to make this place work,” Manchin said. “I’m going to be bipartisan, and nobody is going to stop me or change me, OK?”

But besides their Democratic colleagues urging their support to pack the court, the real power in the Democratic Party — the radical, frothing base that wants nothing less than a revolution — will put tremendous pressure on these senators to conform to their party line.

And if Joe Biden is elected, he will not be able to afford to alienate the radicals while he tries to implement his economic and COVID plans. That should worry all of us. Joe Biden is a weak sister with few principles and even less political courage. It will take someone with far more steadfastness and guts to resist the radicals’ drive to “transform” America.

So while there are some Democratic senators who now say they’re opposed to court-packing, the realities of politics six months or a year from now may make it impossible for them to resist.