Presidential campaigns usually fight over the kinds of justices the candidates would pick to fill empty seats at the Supreme Court.
This year, though, the debate is over far bigger questions about the high court’s fundamental workings.
Vice President Kamala Harris has been largely silent, but those on all sides of the political spectrum say they expect her to be aggressive in trying to pack the court and impose other significant changes if she wins the White House.
Her defenders say it’s a way of erasing former President Donald Trump’s appointments and attempting to restore “legitimacy” to the justices. Detractors say it’s raw politics.
“I think her passion for the pro-choice cause will translate into passion for changing the structure of the Supreme Court,” said Curt Levey, president of the Committee for Justice, a conservative group. “The picture you get is of somebody who, as president, would likely be aggressive in terms of changing the structure of the Supreme Court.”
Those on the left are cheering on those changes, hoping Ms. Harris will back term limits, more Democratic-appointed members and legislation to force a code of ethics on the justices.
“I am hopeful that she would be receptive to considering even more far-reaching proposals in some ways than what [President] Biden has suggested,” said Elliot Mincberg, senior fellow at People For the American Way.
In July, Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris embraced plans that included 18-year term limits on justices, giving every administration two picks for the high court and a binding code of ethics. They also called for a constitutional amendment to overturn the court’s decision on presidential immunity this year.
Ms. Harris, in the past, has talked an even bigger game.
In 2019, while running for the Democrats’ presidential nomination, she said she would be willing to add justices to counterbalance Mr. Trump’s picks to the high court.
“We are on the verge of a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court,” said Ms. Harris, a senator from California who was competing for Democrats’ presidential nomination at the time, told Politico. “We have to take this challenge head-on, and everything is on the table to do that.”
This year, her campaign has hired Brian Fallon, who led Demand Justice, a liberal group that has pushed for significant changes at the high court.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, also told Politico this year that he’s been in contact with Ms. Harris on his ideas for court changes.
He has introduced legislation for several major reforms, including ethics standards and a bill to create a term limit by prohibiting longer-serving justices from hearing most of the cases that come to the high court.
“I can’t think of anything that Kamala Harris is not to the left of Joe Biden on and court packing is absolutely one of them,” said Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell lit into Ms. Harris on Tuesday, saying she’s part of a “campaign to undermine judicial independence.”
“It would be difficult to draw up a more devastating blow to public confidence in the independence of a co-equal branch of government than subordinating it to the election cycles of another,” the Kentucky Republican said.
Forcing term limits would seem to run against the Constitution, which says a justice serves “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.” This means a justice may serve for life, subject only to impeachment.
Adding justices can be done by legislation, though in political reality, it would likely require ending the Senate’s filibuster.
Mr. Levey said the court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade was a significant event for Ms. Harris and other Democrats, who are intent on restoring a national right to abortion.
Ms. Harris this week said she would support ending the filibuster to pass national abortion legislation.
Democrats have also been outraged over alleged ethics concerns plaguing conservative justices.
Recently, Democratic lawmakers such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have moved to impeach Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. They also have pushed for a mandatory ethics code on the high court after reports surfaced critical of the two Republican appointees.
In several articles, Justice Thomas and Justice Alito have been accused of taking luxury trips with billionaires and not recusing themselves from election-related cases and Jan. 6-related cases in which their wives had expressed political support for Mr. Trump and his movement following the 2020 election.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.