A congressman is proposing a constitutional amendment that would delay any adopted changes in the size of the U.S. Supreme Court for 10 years.
Constitutional amendments rarely succeed – 27 have been adopted in the nation's history – but Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., said the effort is needed because of Democrats' threats to pack the court if President Trump goes forward with his constitutional duty to nominate a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday
A constitutional amendments would require two-thirds approval of both the House and the Senate and ratification by 38 of the 50 states.
By threatening to pack the Supreme Court, Democrats are eroding the integrity of our nation’s highest court.
I will be introducing a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit any changes to the size of #SCOTUS until 10 years after any such legislation is signed into law.
— Rep. Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) September 21, 2020
"By threatening to pack the Supreme Court, Democrats are eroding the integrity of our nation's highest court," Collins said. "I will be introducing a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit any changes to the size of #SCOTUS until 10 years after any such legislation is signed into law."
The concept of a delay was the focus of the 27th amendment, adopted in 1992. It delays laws affecting congressional salaries from taking effect until after the next election of representatives.
Collins posted on his congressional website a Fox News article about his plan, which he plans to introduce this week.
"Democrats' latest threat to pack the Supreme Court throws our nation's history to the wayside in pursuit of political gain and threatens the very foundation of our democracy," Collins said.
Collins noted the Supreme Court has had nine justices since 1869.
"To make a change during such a tumultuous time in our history diminishes the integrity of our nation’s highest court and sets an extremely dangerous precedent," Collins said. "By introducing a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit any changes to the number of justices until 10 years after any such legislation is signed into law, we can protect our nation’s highest court from becoming a political football."
Democrats already have discussed adding seats to the Supreme Court.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., stated the Senate should begin work immediately to change the court.
"If Sen. McConnell and @SenateGOP were to force through a nominee during a lame duck session – before a new Senate and President can take office – then the incoming Senate should immediately move to expand the Supreme Court," Nadler threatened. "Filling the SCOTUS vacancy during a lame duck session, after the American people have voted for new leadership, is undemocratic and a clear violation of the public trust in elected officials."
Republicans, with the majority in the Senate, have promised a vote on a nominee forwarded by President Trump.
The president has said there's no reason that the process should not be finished before the election.
However, Democrats such as Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass, have vowed to retaliate.
"If he holds a vote in 2020, we pack the court in 2021," Kennedy said. "It’s that simple."
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., made similar threats to banish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.
Democrats fear that justice selected by Trump to succeed the liberal Ginsburg would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and return regulation of abortions to the states.
Even the author of the majority opinion in the 1973 case, Harry Blackmun, admitted that if science one day established the personhood of the unborn child, it would destroy any "right" to abortion.
Frank Wright, president D. James Kennedy Ministries, said the present vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court "provides an historic opportunity to heal a grievous wound to the fabric of our national humanity."
He noted that even some abortion supporters believe Roe was a "grave constitutional error."
"From the perspective of basic humanity, the decision was even more deeply flawed in denying the personhood of the preborn child and eventually allowing abortionists to kill the preborn up to the moment of birth," he said.
"Because of Roe, more than 60 million not-yet-born boys and girls have been dismembered, burned via saline solution, or starved and suffocated by chemical means. Now, not later, is the time for President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy created by Justice Ginsburg's death with a nominee who will uphold the Constitution as originally written. And now is the time for the Senate to act with all deliberate speed to confirm that nominee."
He said the voters "who elected this president and this Senate deserve and ought to have their electoral will honored and upheld by a swift nomination and confirmation process."
"Pro-life Americans—and most especially the unborn whose blood cries from the ground for justice—have waited long enough for this opportunity to reverse Roe, a ruling with no basis in the U.S. Constitution."
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