White House: Biden 'does not agree with' expanding the Supreme Court
"That is not something that he wants to do,” press secretary says.
The White House on Saturday confirmed that President Joe Biden has no desire to expand or pack the Supreme Court in the wake of the Court's unprecedented repeal of Roe v. Wade earlier this week.
Asked by reporters on Air Force One while en route to Munich about the possibility that Biden might move to add more justices to the Court amid the fallout from the ruling, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Saturday: "I was asked this question yesterday, and I’ve been asked it before…about expanding the Court. That is something that the President does not agree with."
"That is not something that he wants to do,” she added.
Progressives have argued that packing the Court with more justices could offer Democrats a remedy to the strong conservative majority the institution currently enjoys. President Donald Trump appointed three justices during his administration, all of whom are seen as reliably conservative votes on the bench.
Though she said Biden has no plans to pursue such an agenda, Jean-Pierre on Saturday did take time to slam the court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the half-century-old federalization of abortion rights first implemented in 1973.
“It’s so out of step not only with this decision, but it’s also so out of step with the Constitution,” she argued.