As Allahpundit pointed out this morning, the instant reaction to the Texas abortion law from many on the far left has been to call for Congress to pass the contents of Roe into law, thereby overruling the Texas law and any other state that might try something similar. The problem is that you can’t pass Roe via reconciliation which means Democrats would need 60 votes, not 50 plus the Vice President. Of course there’s a way around that problem too: terminate the filibuster.
But even if you do that it’s not a sure thing. Again, as Allahpundit pointed out earlier, you’d surely lose Sen. Manchin in a vote to codify Roe and that means you’d be forced to find a Republican willing to become the very lonely GOP vote to pass it. And that’s assuming you could even find enough votes for it in the House which I suspect would not be easy. If it did pass you can bet Democrats would lose the House next year and maybe the Senate too.
But AOC has a workaround for all of those problems, one she recommended on Twitter last night. End the filibuster and then expand the court.
Republicans promised to overturn Roe v Wade, and they have.
Democrats can either abolish the filibuster and expand the court, or do nothing as millions of peoples’ bodies, rights, and lives are sacrificed for far-right minority rule.
This shouldn’t be a difficult decision. https://t.co/GcEjkxt3gs
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 2, 2021
As Fox News points out, AOC wasn’t alone:
In the span of one week the Supreme Court forced 11 million households to face eviction and effectively overturned Roe v. Wade in the middle of the night.
This is what far-right extremism looks like. We need to expand the court.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) September 2, 2021
Expand the court. https://t.co/xrf3QaJzyA
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) September 1, 2021
Today seems like a good day to remind you that half of the conservative Supreme Court majority was appointed by a president who lost the popular vote and instigated an attempted coup against the United States government.
Expand the Court.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) September 1, 2021
Expand the court.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) September 1, 2021
Expand the Court. Do it tomorrow. Jesus Christ, a 5-4 majority said that the Texas law should stand because the three-card monte legal con at its heart was too clever for precedent to obtain. The whole bagjob of a decision reeks of corruption.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 2, 2021
The Supreme Court is illegitimate, both in its composition and in its shadow docket opinions, the latest one greenlighting vigilante bounty hunters in Texas.
Expand the Court.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) September 2, 2021
For 48 years, Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land in America.
Republicans on the Supreme Court just effectively struck it down. They’re not playing by the rules, and it’s time for the President and Senate to act to save lives.
Expand the Court. https://t.co/gptdYm4E7P
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) September 2, 2021
This Supreme Court abortion ruling cannot be the last word. Senate Democrats have the power to fix this problem right now by abolishing the filibuster and passing my legislation to expand the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/Z0V2O5h6fQ
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) September 2, 2021
There’s lots more of this out there today but you get the idea.
The advantages of this scheme (to Democrats) are obvious. If they can end the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court with four more progressives justices then the new, left-leaning Court could do all the heavy lifting on restoring Roe and ending the law in Texas. And since the Supreme Court would be doing it and not congress, the election of a GOP House and Senate wouldn’t be able to undercut it as they would a mere codification of Roe passed by a Democratic congress.
Not to mention that a left leaning Supreme Court would come in handy for lots of other things Democrats would like to do. After all, the Court recently ruled the Biden administration must reinstate Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy. Adding a few progressives justices to the Court would solve that problem too.
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