Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is looking to go on offense in the looming Supreme Court fight and shift gears after two high-profile setbacks.
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Four months later, Justice Barrett sits on the Supreme Court, President Biden
Democrats have little time to act and the question of which plan to pursue looms large. This debate typically revolves around one task: identify the policy that best balances political reality with legal rigor. Why? Because Congress will get only “one shot” before the court itself weighs in. And by then it may be too late for Congress to start over.
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This legal-political balancing act poses a dilemma: popular plans get watered down to preempt legal concerns while controversial policies dominate the debate based on their constitutional pedigree. For example, Fix The Court’s plan would require justices to take senior status after 18 years (a widely popular approach), but the plan exempts sitting justices to avoid potential legal issues. Take Back the Court, meanwhile, argues that packing the court is the only viable option because anything else might be invalidated.