Top Democrat and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has announced plans to completely reshape the Supreme Court in favor of progressives should his party win back power, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries signals that Democrats will pursue major Supreme Court changes, including expanding the Court, imposing 18-year term limits, and altering Senate rules to facilitate such measures, if they regain control of Congress and the White House.… pic.twitter.com/Bfnb087CtT
— AF Post (@AFpost) August 16, 2026
Jeffries has labeled the Court, which has sided against Trump on key issues of birthright citizenship and the tariff agenda, a “subsidiary” of the Trump administration. Democrats had previously touted plans to reconstruct the Court into a progressive machine by expanding the seats and instituting term limits. Democrats believe that Senate rules preventing such measures can simply be altered.
“[A] variety of different options that are on the table, and I think we can’t foreclose on any single one of them,” Jeffries told the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
When pressed by NBC, Jeffries would not explicitly state that he endorses a move to pack the Court, but that he supports “dramatic reform.”
House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries won't say if he supports packing the Supreme Court.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 16, 2026
NBC: “Do you support adding more Justices to the Court?"
JEFFRIES: “What I support is dramatic reform…” pic.twitter.com/tb7EDRZgUv
Republicans have warned that Democrats would seek to reshape the Court for months, even as progressives have scored major wins through activist lower courts that have stifled the Trump agenda. Former Vice President Kamala Harris has explicitly stated her support for packing the Court, and the growing Democratic Socialist wing of the Democrat Party has campaigned on abolishing the body altogether.
Kamala Harris: "We need to revisit the electoral college. We need to expand the Supreme Court." pic.twitter.com/zy8VO3eJvS
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 13, 2026
AOC believes the DSA agenda of abolishing the Senate, presidency, & Supreme Court is “fundamentally pro democracy” pic.twitter.com/HpQhemsmFn
— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) August 9, 2026
Party platforms regarding the Supreme Court will be a key issue for voters as the midterms and 2028 election approach.
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