It has become the go-to question for Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden, even if the there is no meaningful follow-up: Will you pack the US Supreme Court if elected? To date his answer is unclear and non-committal.
During Thursday evening’s ABC town hall, liberal moderator George Stephanopoulos asked Biden for the innumerable time if he would seek to pack the Supreme Court if he is elected president on November 3, 2020. And for the umpteenth time Biden gave a non-committal answer.
“It depends on how much they rush this,” Biden said. “No matter what answer I gave you, if I say it, that’s the headline tomorrow. It won’t be about what’s going on now, the improper way they’re proceeding.”
Stephanopoulos pressed on, asking whether the voters have a right to know his intentions before Election Day.
“They do have a right to know where I stand and they’ll have a right to know where I stand before they vote,” Biden replied.
But when Stephanopoulos sought clarity, asking if Biden would establish a “clear position” before Election Day Biden clouded the horizon, answering, “Yes, depending on how they handle this.”
Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), his running mate, have avoided answering the question in a definitively manner since it was broached as a retaliation in response to the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett by President Trump to the High Court.
Biden’s clouded promise on Thursday is the closest thing to an answer on the issue.
The US Constitution doesn’t establish the number of justices to be seated on the Supreme Court. That number has varied until 1869, when it was set to at nine so as to break ties. It has remained at that number ever since.