Some are complaining that President-elect Joe Biden might respond to Trump’s Supreme Court appointments by increasing the size of the court and/or changing the term of the appointments. Joy Olsen contends that “packing the court” is unacceptable and “would effectively destroy the balance of powers outlined in our Constitution” (“Packing court not acceptable,” Our Readers’ Views, Nov. 11).
She fails to mention that Trump effectively packed the court with Mitch McConnell’s help. Trump “inherited” over 100 court vacancies, because in the last two years of Barack Obama’s presidency, McConnell only allowed 28.6 percent of his judicial appointments to be confirmed. Over one-quarter of all current appeals court judges were appointed by Trump/McConnell. McConnell also famously blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court in early 2016, yet pushed Amy Coney Barrett’s through days before the 2020 election.
Trump and McConnell have already destroyed the balance of power when it comes to judicial appointments. Joe Biden is putting together a bipartisan commission to look into possible changes to the Supreme Court and federal judiciary, so that in the future, a power play by a POTUS/Senate leader, Republican or Democrat, can’t do what Trump/McConnell have done.
