A new bill proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would dramatically overhaul the Supreme Court, adding six justices and requiring court supermajorities to overturn federal legislation.
The bill follows harsh criticism of the alleged corruption of justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, as well as a string of extreme rulings in the last several years on issues from abortion to presidential immunity.
“The Supreme Court is in crisis and bold solutions are necessary to restore the public trust,” Wyden said in a statement. “More transparency, more accountability and more checks on a power hungry Supreme Court are just what the American people are asking for.”
The bill would expand the nation's highest court to 15 justices, allowing presidents to appoint just two justices per term: one in their first and one in their third year. Though court packing has been a topic of discussion for years, Wyden’s bill is the first to propose an expansion since President Joe Biden signaled his weariness with the court's direction.
"I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we're going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that's not healthy,” Biden told MSNBC last year.
The bill would also permit financial audits of justices and require greater transparency on recusal motions.
Wyden, one of two senators who requested a criminal investigation into gifts and payments received by Justice Thomas, is also proposing an overhaul to the lower courts, including an expansion from the existing 13 circuit courts to 15, adding hundreds of judges to district and appeals courts.
The proposal comes months after Biden released his own proposal for Supreme Court reforms, which stopped short of an expansion but endorsed term limits for justices. Both Wyden and Biden’s plans come as public confidence in the courts craters to near-historic lows.
