Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., have signaled that a Democratic takeover of Congress this November would trigger a sweeping assault on the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, prompting sharp rebukes from critics who warn the proposals amount to a partisan power grab.
Speaking to Iowa Democrats in Des Moines on Saturday alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Whitehouse said he and Raskin — both leading members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees — are already coordinating on how to maximize their investigative authority if their party wins control of the upper chamber. The Rhode Island senator said the high court would be a top target.
“We’re gonna put a lot of attention right away to the Supreme Court,” Whitehouse said, according to remarks captured at the event. “We need to do a lot of investigating because not enough people know the story about how this court got captured by a bunch of creepy right-wing billionaires.”
The comments echo conspiracy-tinged narratives Whitehouse has promoted for years about conservative justices, claims that critics say have been fueled by media reports from outlets like ProPublica and The New York Times targeting Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Those investigative efforts, which examined travel and financial disclosures, ultimately produced no formal findings of wrongdoing.
Whitehouse also previewed a Supreme Court “ethics program” and voiced support for imposing 18-year term limits on all justices, a proposal he said would apply retroactively.
Clyburn Backs Expanding Court to 13 Seats
The following day, Clyburn appeared on NBC News’ Meet the Press and endorsed adding four new seats to the Supreme Court, expanding the bench from nine to 13 justices. Host Kristen Welker pressed the South Carolina Democrat on whether he supported the plan, noting that former Vice President Kamala Harris had called for the same expansion.
“Yes, I do,” Clyburn replied. “I think that we are in a position now that calls from some significant actions taken by the Congress, and we ought to expand — and 13 is a pretty good number.”
Clyburn’s remarks follow House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who appeared on the same program weeks earlier and all but guaranteed Democrats would pursue court-packing if given the chance. Jeffries said Raskin and other supporters of expansion on the House Judiciary Committee “are going to take the lead on what dramatic reform of the Supreme Court looks like.”
Critics See Political Power Play
Conservatives and legal experts argue the proposals are not reforms aimed at improving the judiciary but rather a calculated effort to alter the court’s ideological balance after years of activist rulings they say were overturned, including on abortion.
“This is nothing more than a power play designed to cripple public trust in the court and change its makeup for political gain,” one commentator said, echoing broad criticism from the right.
Supporters of the plan insist the court has become politicized and needs structural changes to restore legitimacy. But opponents point to the historical precedent of the nine-justice bench—unchanged since 1869—and warn that enlarging the court would set a dangerous precedent, inviting future majorities to stack the judiciary in their favor.
Whitehouse’s and Clyburn’s statements come amid a broader Democratic push to scrutinize the court’s ethics practices and its conservative justices. Earlier efforts led by Whitehouse in the Senate Judiciary Committee resulted in a report that critics dismissed as a “nothingburger,” with no substantive findings against the justices investigated.
Threats of political violence against conservative justices have also persisted since the leak of the 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, adding a volatile edge to the debate.
With control of both chambers of Congress hanging in the balance this November, the Supreme Court has emerged as a central battleground issue. Voters will now weigh whether Democrats’ promises of sweeping institutional change represent necessary accountability or an overreach that could destabilize one of the federal government’s most durable branches.
As the election season intensifies, both parties are likely to seize on the court as a rallying cry, with Republicans warning of a judicial crisis and Democrats framing the issue as a fight against an out-of-touch, right-wing bench.
Source: thefederalist.com — https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/01/friends-dont-let-friends-vote-for-dems-gambit-to-destroy-scotus/