The pressure to take a position, not just from Republicans, but also from fellow Democrats, may only grow.
© Getty / The Atlantic Supreme Court confirmation battles have become all-out political wars, and last night’s vice-presidential debate offered a hint of the next stage in the escalation. Mike Pence and Kamala Harris were sparring over Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination when Pence turned to Harris and posed a challenge. “Are you and Joe Biden going to pack the Court?” he asked her. In recent weeks, as Democrats have faced the possibility that an Antonin Scalia protégée will replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the bench, progressives have pushed a proposal to add new justices to the Court, arguing that it’s the only way to safeguard decisions on voting rights, abortion access, and same-sex marriage. “This is a classic case of, if you can’t win by the rules, you’re going to change the rules,” Pence continued. He turned to look into the camera. “The American people would really like to know.” Harris refused to answer the question directly. Instead, she took a historical detour to 1864, explaining why Abraham Lincoln didn’t appoint a new Supreme Court justice shortly before he was up for reelection. “The American people are voting right now, and it should be their decision about who will serve on this most important body for a lifetime,” she said. [Read: The true victors of Trump’s Supreme Court nomination] Maybe the Biden team thinks court packing is a distraction from the fight over Barrett—his communications director, Kate Bedingfield, has said as much. Maybe the question is still unresolved within the campaign. Maybe Harris didn’t want to answer a question from Pence; throughout the evening, both candidates dodged direct queries from the moderator, too. Whatever the reason, if Democrats win big in November, court packing will be an urgent and live question that Biden and Harris will have to take on within their coalition.
