Reply #21: I'm not sure you are familiar with the history [View All]

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The president doesn't have the power to change the size of the court. It takes legislation and exactly how do you think such legislation could get through Congress? FDR failed and he had a 76-16 majority (with four third party/independent senators who were generally sympathetic to FDR's agenda). Yet 70 senators voted AGAINST the FDR plan.

Attempting to increase the size of the court as a political matter would blow up in the faces of the Democrats just as it blew up in the face of FDR, who had a much much stronger hand to play and still got his ass royally kicked. Heck, FDR was able to argue (although it was just a cover for his real intent) that he didn't get to nominate a single justice for his entire first term. Obama already has named one, and is likely to have a second before his second year in office is up. And FDR

Those are the facts. I am open to hearing how as a practical political matter you think the size of the SCOTUS (unchanged since it was made smaller in the mid 19th century) could be increased today without the problems that FDR ran into. Keep in mind, of course, that anyone trying to change the size of the court today would have one problem FDR couldn't have had -- the historical fact that FDR tried it and failed.