Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has called for the Supreme Court to be subject to “real” reform after over a decade of right-wing rulings from a bench that has been captured by deep pocketed far right interests has put the U.S at the precipice of a deep plunge into fascism.
Sanders called out the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision for ushering in a “corrupt, billionaire dominated political system” and more recent decisions removing abortion protections; criminalizing homelessness; totally defanging the federal government’s ability to regulate; and, on Monday, granting the president an unprecedented amount of power without consequence.
“These are just some of the dangerous rulings from a right-wing, corporate-sponsored Supreme Court that continues to serve an extremist agenda,” Sanders said.
“If these conservative justices want to make public policy, they should simply quit the Supreme Court and run for political office,” he continued, reiterating observations that the Supreme Court is legislating from the bench as it has concentrated power within the conservative-dominated judiciary branch and trampled over the separation of powers.
Calls for Supreme Court reforms and overhauls have reignited following the Supreme Court’s democracy-shattering presidential immunity ruling as experts warn of the immense and dangerous amount of power now vested in the executive branch, with a nakedly partisan Court poised to support a fascist Donald Trump presidency in whatever horrific actions his administration could dream up.
“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, billionaire control of our political system, and major threats to the foundations of American democracy, it is clear to me that we need real Supreme Court reform,” Sanders said. “A strong, enforceable code of ethics is a start, but just a start. We’ll need much more than that.”
Sanders has previously supported ideas to rotate Supreme Court justices into federal courts in order to get around lifetime appointments if Congress refuses to implement term limits for justices.
Other Democrats have reupped calls for Supreme Court expansion — adding seats to the Supreme Court to dilute the power of the current right-wing supermajority on the bench.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) gestured to this proposal in a statement about the immunity ruling. In 2023, he and a bicameral group of Democrats reintroduced their bill to add four seats to the Court. The Court has had nine members since 1869, although Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to add four justices in the 1930s.
“This is a rogue, untethered, and damaging Supreme Court,” Markey said. “Today’s ruling is devastating to our democracy. We must reclaim the stolen seats, restore balance and legitimacy to the Court, and begin to undo the damage the MAGA Republican party has wrought.”
Senators Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), both sponsors of the bill, outright called for Court expansion.
“Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell stole two seats on the Supreme Court, and we’re living with the consequences,” Warren wrote on social media on Tuesday. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s time to expand the Court.”
“This Supreme Court is beholden to right-wing groups and the billionaire mega-donors that fund them,” Smith said. “The Supreme Court is broken. The remedy is clear. Expand the Court.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We are presently looking for 201 new monthly donors in the next 24 hours.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy