DeWine, Husted join Ohio political leaders in opposition to court packing

(The Center Square) – The list of Ohio political leaders voicing opposition to what some say is an attempt by Democrats to pack the U.S. Supreme Court with liberal judges is growing.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost strongly opposed the idea of court packing last week and expressed strong support for the Keep Nine amendment recently introduced in Congress. Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted joined the same cause Tuesday.

“For over 150 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has been comprised of nine justices. Over the years, efforts to alter the composition of the court have always been met with skepticism by the American people of attempting to politicize the court,” said DeWine, a former Ohio attorney general and congressman. “Keeping the number of justices at nine enshrined in the Constitution will prevent any political party from tampering with the court for political gain.”

Husted said any effort to adjust the court further divides the country and erodes any trust in government establishments.

“To pack the court is to politicize the court with the consequence of further undermining trust in our institutions and hardening, rather than healing, our divisions,” Husted said. “I support efforts, including the Keep Nine amendment, that protect the court from political overreach in order to preserve the independence and trust in America’s federal judicial system.”

The proposed Keep Nine Amendment would add 13 words to the U.S. Constitution: “The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine Justices.”

Yost teamed with attorneys general across the country last week in criticizing President Joe Biden’s plan to study the Supreme Court and in asking Congress to reject any potential legislation that would expand and politicize the court.

Portman called the Biden administration’s commission to study the court political and packing the Supreme Court with more justices dangerous.

“What started as a study commission announced by the president less than a week ago has quickly turned into a partisan attempt to substantially alter one of government’s most important institutions and a significant part of an entire branch of government,” Portman said. “Packing the Supreme Court with more justices simply to try to dictate preferred policy outcomes is dangerous, and I hope Congress avoids going down this path.”

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