MSNBC's Joy Reid: Supreme Court perhaps needs 15 judges so U.S. won't live under 'far-right religious dictum'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: The Supreme Court 'has lost the respect of the American people'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC host Joy Reid endorsed packing the Supreme Court Thursday to the extent that conservatives currently on the bench couldn't force Americans to live in a "far-right sort of religious dictum."
Speaking Thursday with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., after she got on board with the Judiciary Act of 2021 that would expand the court's size to 13 judges, Reid pointed to a frequent "ReidOut" guest who's espoused as many as 15 Supreme Court judges.
"This court is there to undercut long-established rules that protect unions, to take away people's right to their day in court, to take away voting rights," Warren said. "This court has lost the respect of the American people, and the only way I believe that we're going to rebuild that is we need to bring in more justices. We need to get some balance back in this court."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC's Joy Reid interviews Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Dec. 15, 2021. (MSNBC)
ELIZABETH WARREN CALLS FOR CONGRESS TO EXPAND SUPREME COURT: ‘I BELIEVE IT’S TIME'
Asking how that could be done, Reid said, "Elie Mystal is on the show a lot and talks about the fact that there should either be 14 of them or 15 of them. Put enough of them on there so that three or four people can't simply decide for the rest of the 326 million Americans how we're going to live, and that we're going to be forced to live under this far-right sort of religious dictum. But how could you get that done?"
Warren said the left needed to begin "building the momentum" for such a radical measure, saying the 2022 elections should be about the issue to a degree.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A police officer maintains a watch during a demonstration by victims of gun violence in front of the Supreme Court as arguments begin in a major case on gun rights on Nov. 3, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images) (Joshua Roberts)
"It feels like a lot is going to have to get built into the 2022 election, given the fact that [Joe] Manchin and [Kyrsten] Sinema exist," Reid said, referring to the moderate Democrats from West Virginia and Arizona whom she frequently rails against on her program.
WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL BOARD WARNS DEMOCRATS: COURT-PACKING WOULD BE ‘HISTORIC MISTAKE’
The current nine-member size of the Supreme Court was set by the Judiciary Act of 1869. There are not nearly enough voices who have espoused expanding the Supreme Court on the Democratic side to make any such measure possible in the near future; several Senate Democrats who ran in 2020 specifically said they opposed packing the court, including new members Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democrats fumed as former President Donald Trump saw all three of his nominees confirmed during his administration: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Six of the nine current justices were nominated by Republican presidents.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) talks on the phone before the start of the Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., December 14, 2021. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
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All three confirmations under Trump were wrenching for Democrats. Gorsuch filled the seat that Merrick Garland was nominated for by President Barack Obama in 2016 before Republicans held up his nomination. Kavanaugh took the seat held by retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, often a swing vote, and Barrett filled the seat of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last year.