Assault on the Supreme Court: Democratic lawmakers begin campaign to control court

The Democratic senators have become the spearhead of their party's drive to take control, or at least weaken the conservative influence of the Supreme Court. The approval, after an acrimonious session of the Upper House Judiciary Committee, for a bill proposing that lower court judges supervise the behavior of SCOTUS members or, increase the grounds for disqualification to continue its processing, is the first tangible step in proposals that the blue congressmen have been launching for some time.

Democratic fixation with the Supreme Court

The Democratic fixation on control of the Supreme Court is not new. As Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham repeatedly reminded House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of his participation in a demonstration at the gates of the institution and his warning that the justices would "pay the price," for ruling in favor of abortion restrictions. Three years and several blows to progressive initiatives later, blue politicians are trying to pass the bill.

Congressmen like AOC called for impeachment of SCOTUS members

Last June's rulings, which struck down Biden's signature measures for his term in office, the cancellation of student debt; the rejection of affirmative action in university admissions, and the shielding of religious freedom from LGBT woke ideology in the workplace, were the straw that broke the camel's back. Far from the respect due to judicial decisions, and even more so by elected representatives, prominent Democratic congressmen clamored to initiate a series of measures to limit the actions of conservatives in the Supreme Court. Some, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went so far as to propose subpoenas and impeachment of members of the Supreme Court.

Control by lower courts

Among the proposals is to increase the number of judges sitting on SCOTUS so as to dilute the conservative majority. From the media, the gifts accepted by several of the most prominent judges, such as Clarence Robertson or Samuel Alito, which are the basis on which the bill that has just passed the Commission is based, are being charged. In this regard, the bill provides for lower court judges to be in charge of supervising the behavior of the members of the Supreme Court. Something that sparked outrage from conservatives, who recalled that SCOTUS reviews the rulings - and has the power to overturn them - of these courts.

Democratic senator and chairman of the Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin rejected accusations that this was a response to his party's latest judicial setbacks and insisted that he had already urged the Chief Justice John Roberts to adopt a binding code of conduct a decade ago. At that time, the composition of the High Court was very different. "Unfortunately, he did not accept my suggestion. Since then, as more and more stories of ethical misconduct by justices have emerged, the American people's confidence in the Supreme Court has fallen to an all-time low," Durbin said.

"They have done everything possible to delegitimize this court"

Something that does not convince conservative politicians, such as Graham, who denounce that "What [Democrats] you’re trying to do is not improve the court, you’re trying to destroy it as it exists. You have done just about everything there is to do to delegitimize this court." Senator John Cormyn added that this is a partisan attack on separation of powers that they have been working on for some time.

Turning the Supreme Court into a weapon of the Democratic Party

Marsha Blackburn, author of an amendment that was rejected by the Democratic majority, also went further by asserting that the Democrats' ultimate goal is "turning the Supreme Court into an arm of the Democratic Party".