Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced Tuesday on Twitter his intention to introduce a constitutional amendment that would permanently keep the number of Supreme Court justices at nine.
“We must prevent further destabilization of essential institutions,” Rubio tweeted. “Court packing is quickly becoming a litmus test for 2020 Democratic candidates. Therefore I will be introducing a constitutional amendment to keep the number of seats on #SCOTUS at 9.”
We must prevent further destabilization of essential institutions.
Court packing is quickly becoming a litmus test for 2020 Democratic candidates.
Therefore I will be introducing a constitutional amendment to keep the number of seats on #SCOTUS at 9. https://t.co/VBeJaWmeCV
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 19, 2019
Rubio’s proposal comes as multiple Democrats vying for the 2020 nomination have come out in favor of expanding the court. Democratic presidential candidates, including California Sen. Kamala Harris, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg have all expressed a willingness to adding justices. (RELATED: Is Chief Justice John Roberts Tacking Left?)
US senator Marco Rubio, addresses the press on the humanitarian aid shipments sent by the US government for Venezuela that are stockpiled at a collection center in the Colombian border, at the Simon Bolivar international bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, border with San Antonio de Tachira, Venezuela on February 17, 2019. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump also addressed the recent emergence of court-packing as a Democratic talking point during a Tuesday press conference with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“No, I wouldn’t entertain that,” Trump said of the idea. “The only reason they’re doing that is they want to try to catch up. So if they can’t catch up through the ballot box by winning an election, they want to try doing it in a different way. We would have no interest in that whatsoever. It’ll never happen. It won’t happen, I guarantee. It won’t happen for six years.”
Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green also announced Tuesday that he “will be introducing a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of Supreme Court justices to 9” later this week.