The Big Picture

On April 9th, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order that established a Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States (the Commission). Under Section 3 of the order, the Commission will produce a report to President Biden that among other things provides an analysis of the key arguments in the current debate for and against Supreme Court (Court) reform. The report must be provided to President Biden by November 15th, 2021.

Today, FreedomWorks Foundation submitted a formal comment to President Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States opposing its consideration of ‘reforms’ that would fundamentally change the Court and turn it into a weapon of partisan politics.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for December 2020 is S.J.Res. 76, Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) “Keep Nine” constitutional amendment to require that the Supreme Court be composed of nine justices.

Over the weekend, Sam Berger of the Center for American Progress tried to make the claim that Republicans had packed federal courts with conservative nominees by confirming circuit court judges. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) made a similar statement on Sunday during an appearance on Meet the Press. “The American people have watched the Republicans packing the court for the past three and a half years,” he said, “and they brag about it.”

On Saturday, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In October 2017, Barrett was confirmed by a vote of 54 to 42 to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Prior to her service on the federal bench, Barrett was a law professor at Notre Dame Law School, where she received her law degree. She clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court.

District Attorneys and state Attorneys General have expansive powers to investigate conditions and crimes in their jurisdictions. They have the power to subpoena documents and have people testify before secret grand juries, which the AGs and DAs control. Only the AGs and DAs and their associates present evidence to the grand juries. There is no cross examination by criminal defense attorneys, which is guaranteed in an actual criminal trial.