Justice Breyer says expanding the Supreme Court could erode trust
Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Tuesday that proposals to expand the Supreme Court to dilute the power of its conservative majority risk making justices appear more political and could hurt the court’s influence with the public. Breyer, one of the court’s three liberals, defended the court’s independence by pointing to its decision to resist President Donald Trump’s attempts to draw the court into lawsuits that sought to overturn Trump’s defeat in November. In remarks prepared for a speech at Harvard Law School, Breyer wrote that the court’s authority depends on “a trust that the court is guided by legal principle, not politics.” He added: “Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that perception, further eroding that trust.” Some Democrats and liberal activists say that adding seats to the court is the only way to blunt the court’s conservative majority.