Politics

Sen. Tom Cotton Says Democrats Want To Pack Supreme Court Because They Worry It ‘Might Actually Uphold The Constitution’

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Brandon Gillespie Media Reporter
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Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton blasted Democrats on Friday over their new bill that would add four justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cotton claimed on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus” that Democrats want to “pack the court” because they worry its “center-right” majority “might actually uphold the Constitution.” (RELATED: Psaki Explains Why Biden Is Exploring Court Packing After Previously Calling It ‘A Bonehead Idea’)

Host Harris Faulkner began the discussion by asking Cotton what the point was for Democrats to even introduce the bill, considering some Democrats are pushing against it. She also asked what the “political play” was for Democrats opposing the bill.

“The whole point is a Democratic power grab. The Democrats are angry that they don’t have a liberal majority on the Supreme Court, and they want to add four justices, shockingly the exact number they would need to get Democratic appointed justices into a majority on the court,” Cotton answered. “Now, they may not be able to pass this in the Congress right now … but part of this is the Democrats trying to push the boundaries of what is possible, so if they win larger majorities at some point in the future, they’ll put more pressure on their colleagues to vote for this and ultimately to pack the court.”

Cotton said he believed that it’s “essential” to denounce what the Democrats are trying to do as an “illegitimate attack” on the country’s foundational principles, rule of law, and constitutional government. He added that Republicans need to win back the House and Senate in 2022 to make sure the bill “has no chance of happening.”

Faulkner then suggested that Democrats could be trying to “intimidate” the court by pretending they might get their way since they went on to announce the bill even after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wouldn’t bring it to the House floor.

“That’s another effort by the Democrats as well, and something they’ve done in the past. Chuck Schumer last year stood on the steps of the Supreme Court and said that justices, by name, were going to reap the whirlwind if they ruled in a way that he did not favor,” Cotton responded. “So this is a long-term effort, not just to hopefully change the balance of opinion in the Democratic Party to ultimately pack the court, but also to try to intimidate justices on the Supreme Court, to hedge and trim, and to make decisions based on something other than the law and the facts of each case.”

Cotton then claimed that the Democrats were “drunk with power,” and that they would continue to try and “seize more power and more control over the lives of Americans.” He stated that the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as current Justice Stephen Breyer, all opposed adding more seats to the court.

“The Democratic politicians in Congress see a center-right majority on the court and they worry that that majority might actually uphold the Constitution as it’s written and constrain their power … It is the ultimate power grab, it is dangerous, and it threatens to undermine fundamental principles like the rule of law in America,” he concluded.