Pete Buttigieg Floats Overhaul of ‘Rogue’ Supreme Court: Doesn’t ‘Have to be Nine’

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg floated an overhaul of what he described as a “rogue” Supreme Court, suggesting that there doesn’t “have to be nine” justices and that the court could be easily reformed to better “fit this country.”

Buttigieg, who is widely seen as a potential Democratic contender for the 2028 presidential election, joined Hillary Clinton and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) on-stage Thursday at the first Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention since the passing of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson.

At the event held in Chicago’s South Side, Buttigieg said: “We have to do [something] with the Supreme Court, that is now a rogue Supreme Court. To see them eviscerate the Voting Rights Act is to see them reverse some of the most important progress this country ever made, wiping out Black political representation, but also wiping out part of what actually is great within the complex American story.”

The fact that this country was able to face down its demons, which is what the Voting Rights Act responded to – just like the 14th Amendment responded to this country facing down its darkest demons – talking about that isn’t disparaging America, which is what this administration would want you to believe,” he continued. “Talking about that is honoring what was greatest about America, which was our capacity to overcome that.”

“And now we’ve had this leap back from a rogue Supreme Court,” he added.

Buttigieg appeared to begin addressing his past advocacy for a major overhaul first pushed during his 2020 presidential campaign, when he proposed an expansion from nine to 15 justices.

Under that plan, five seats would effectively be aligned with Democrats, five with Republicans, and the remaining five would be selected by the first 10 justices and serve as nonpartisan members of the court.

But as he continued on Thursday he was interrupted by the moderator, who asked him: “Now, there are some really progressive ideas about handling that rogue Supreme Court. What do you think about some of those?”

The Democrat replied that it was “time to think big.”

“Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that there have to be nine Supreme Court justices. That one doesn’t even take a constitutional amendment,” he began. “It just takes a readiness to set up a court that fits this country. We could have 13 seats matching the district structure of the federal judiciary, but also a process that makes it less partisan.”

He continued: “We cannot have partisan warfare every time there’s an opening on the court. So I think term limits would help, but I don’t think they go far enough.”

Watch above via X.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!