# Stacking SCOTUS **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 16, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665 "2009-08-16T21:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/1 "2009-08-16T21:51:04Z")
Realizing that they have a dominant majority in the House and 60 in the Senate, Congress decides to increase the number of Justices to 11 and strangely enough Obama now gets to appoint the 2 Justices? Does it pass? Why or why not? What is the American public reaction? If an abject failure, based on the FDR and “Obama” court-packing try, is there a movement to make a Constitutional amendment limiting the number of Justices to 9? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/2 "2009-08-16T22:08:19Z")
Hard to say. I don’t think the Congress we have is radical enough, ideological enough, or really, you know, enough interested in constructive policy changes, to try anything that bold. When I see a Congress that is enough those things to try it, I’ll base my opinion on what their real objectives are. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/3 "2009-08-16T22:21:28Z")
It would be a foolish thing for any president to do. The political backlash would be palpable. I don’t see any real concern to try and preempt it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/4 "2009-08-16T22:43:43Z")
No, history is against it. They would not even think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/5 "2009-08-16T22:43:57Z")
Since FDR, trying to stack the court by expanding the number of justices has become a byword for executive over-reach. I doubt it would pass congress, or that Obama would even consider it. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/6 "2009-08-16T23:12:30Z")
FDR, in the middle of the Depression, with unprecedented political capital and a unified party behind him, got his head handed to him when he tried this. I seriously doubt any president will ever try it again. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacking-scotus/506665/7 "2009-08-17T01:12:49Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > FDR, in the middle of the Depression, with unprecedented political capital and a unified party behind him, got his head handed to him when he tried this. I seriously doubt any president will ever try it again. No kidding! The 75th Congress in 1937 had 334 Democrats in the House and 74 (out of 98) in the Senate. That’s 75% margins in both houses. Roosevelt’s proposal never made it out committee in the House, and was sent back to committee in the Senate, by a vote of 70-20.