A once controversial issue pushed only by the most progressive members of the Democratic Party is seemingly becoming a more common stance in the era of Donald Trump: reshaping the Supreme Court.
The topic is top of mind for high-profile Democrats who are preparing for the possibility of regaining control of Congress or even having a trifecta in the coming months and years.
Some of these calls for Court reform remain vague and half-baked, and many lawmakers have yet to weigh in at all. But from congressional leadership to 2028 presidential hopefuls, a growing number of big names are offering specific proposals and, in some cases, endorsing the idea of expanding the Court beyond its current nine members.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently urged his colleagues to prioritize the issue, calling it a necessary step “to make sure it does not continue to operate as a partisan and retrograde institution.”
Here is where some top Democrats stand on Supreme Court reform and expansion:
House Leadership
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has been pretty vague in his support of changes to the Supreme Court, most recently saying he wants to see “dramatic reform.”
“Dramatic Supreme Court reform is necessary,” Jeffries said during an August appearance on Meet the Press. “There’s a variety of different options that are on the table and I think that we can’t foreclose any single one of them.”
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) weighed in on the issue of reform in September, saying Democrats want to “reform the Court.”
”We’ve said very clearly that that should be the code of ethics they follow. They shouldn’t be able to have RVs financed by billionaires with interests in front of them,” Aguilar said during a weekly press conference, referencing the gift Justice Clarence Thomas received from a wealthy health care executive.
Meanwhile Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the House Minority whip, has endorsed calls to expand the Supreme Court, saying he supports the idea of adding four more seats to it.
“I think we are in a position now that calls for some significant actions taken by the Congress and we ought to expand, and 13 is a pretty good number,” Clyburn told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker. “A baker’s dozen, it would be a good number to have on the court.”
Clyburn is the first member of House Democratic leadership to endorse the idea of expanding the Supreme Court by four more justices.
The legislation to add four more seats to the Supreme Court was, in fact, proposed by a group of House and Senate Democrats back in 2021.
Senate Leadership
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said he wants to reform the Court, and that these changes will be a priority for Democrats if they take control of both chambers following the 2026 midterm elections.
“It’s a very big priority,” Schumer said in an August interview. “I feel very strongly, for the sake of the republic, we need reform in the courts.”
Schumer added that the “Supreme Court has become a morass, both ethically and substantively.”
“We’re going to look at everything,” he added. “There are lots of proposals.”
Schumer said Congress has to intervene on Supreme Court ethics because Chief Justice John Roberts “is derelict in his responsibilities” and won’t enforce standards himself.
Meanwhile, earlier this summer, a group of Senate Judiciary Democrats — led by Ranking Member of the Judiciary Courts Subcommittee Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) — introduced legislation to establish term limits and regularize appointments for Supreme Court justices.
”Under the legislation, a new justice would take the bench every two years and spend 18 years participating in all Supreme Court cases, after which the justice would be limited to hearing a small number of constitutionally required cases,” the press release reads.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in August calling to expand the number of seats on the Court, impose term limits, and enforce a code of ethics.
Potential 2028 Presidential Candidates
Earlier this summer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) told MS Now that he thinks the Supreme Court needs “radical reform.”
“I think everything needs to be on the table. I think we need radical reform,” Shapiro said in a July interview.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker also chimed in on the issue, telling Politico that he understands why people want to expand the size of the Supreme Court.
”I think I want to see a little more out of this Supreme Court before I would make a judgement,” Pritzker said when asked if he would want to add more seats to the Supreme Court. But, he added, “I will say that if that is what is necessary in order to restore our republic to what it was, which is standing up for individual rights the way it was before Donald Trump, then that may be what we need to do.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced legislation last year that would limit a justice’s Supreme Court service to 18 years and would also give each president an opportunity to nominate one justice during their first and third year in office.
Khanna’s proposed legislation would allow for the number of sitting justices to fluctuate.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has also repeatedly expressed support for expanding the Supreme Court, leading all the way back to 2021.
”I do, I think we should be expanding the Court,” she told Fox News in 2021.
