Former House Speaker and current Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Sunday called for term limits for Supreme Court justices. This is the same person who has spent over four decades on the public dole bemoaning justices who receive lifetime appointments.
Speaking on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Pelosi declared there “certainly should be term limits” on the high court.
Focusing on the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Pelosi said, “Here we have a body…chosen for life. Never have to run for office. Nominated, confirmed for life, with no accountability for their ethics behavior.”
83 year old career politician with 42 years in office endorses term limits on Supreme Court Justices.
Next thing you know, Nancy Pelosi will be calling out SCOTUS for owning stock and insider trading…
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) June 26, 2023
Not content to stop there, Pelosi also considered the possibility of court packing to enable Democrats to solidify their agenda. Recently the party attempted to raise ethical issues concerning conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Continuing this theme, Pelosi asserted that “if nothing else, there should be some ethical rules that would be followed.”
The former Speaker complained further that reactions by Thomas and Alito to Democrats’ accusations are “shameful.” She called their responses “cavalier” and said they were beneath “what would be expected of a justice of the Supreme Court.”
Pelosi then wandered into the extremely controversial area of possible expansion of the high court. She avoided taking a concrete stand on this issue but said it is now a “discussion.”
The Democrat said it has been a century and a half since the last expansion of the court. “It was in the time of Lincoln that it went up to nine, so the subject of whether that should happen is a discussion — it’s not, say, a rallying cry, but it’s a discussion.”
This is an issue that arose early in Joe Biden’s tenure, and he appointed a commission to study possible Supreme Court reforms. That effort fell flat early last year, though the idea gained new momentum after several landmark high court decisions in 2022.
But tinkering with the bench is an theme that is never far from Democrats’ minds when rulings do not go their way. Note the specific proposals floated to “reform” the high court.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposed packing the court to 13 justices. Unsurprisingly, this would give Democrats seven appointees, moving them ahead of the six current justices appointed by Republicans.
Then there’s the bid by House Democrats that drew support Sunday from Pelosi to set an 18-year term limit. Right away, that would eject conservative Clarence Thomas and put John Roberts and Samuel Alito on their way out of the door.
