Republicans facing mounting calls for major reform over corruption concerns say action would be "reprehensible," according to a new report.
The Supreme Court has been hit with a wave of proposals from angry Democrats who accuse the nation's highest court of issuing rulings that obey politics over the law — a criticism that infuriates Republicans, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
“All of these ‘reforms’ are because the left doesn’t like the decisions coming out of the Court,” Mike Fragoso, former chief counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), told the Post. “The goal is to intimidate the Court into changing the course of decisions. It’s reprehensible.”
Tom Jipping, of Advancing American Freedom (founded by former vice president Mike Pence), agreed.
“They never say how the Supreme Court got it wrong on the law,” Jipping said. “The only the [sic] thing they do is mention the result and tack on a few bombastic pejoratives.”
But Democrats say action is needed now, and have proposed increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, term limits and enforceable code of ethics regarding its “shadow docket," the Post reported.
Democrats point to the court's support of President Donald Trump initiatives they say limit voting rights, loosen campaign finance rules and increase Trump's presidential power.
“There’s constant and building dismay about the increasingly appalling record of the court,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said. “And I think the continuing interest in reform springs from continued dismay and concern about the court’s misbehavior.”
James Talarico, the Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Texas, has also called for an “overhaul” of the Supreme Court and described the court’s recent rulings as a “five-alarm fire," the Post reported.
Daniel Epps, a Washington University law professor, argued the public is increasingly becoming suspicious that the court is politically driven.
“You have half the country that just sees the court as a partisan institution," he said. "Half the country just can be like, ‘Screw these guys.’”