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Originally Posted by wittynickname
Yes. The courts have 100% been packed by Republicans, and it goes far deeper than SCOTUS. A lot has been made in this thread about RBG being selfish and not stepping down: she would've needed to step down quite early in Obama's presidency if she was going to be replaced. Mitch McConnell was positively gleeful about his ability to halt Obama judicial nominees from the top down. That's why Trump has been able to appoint an appalling number of federal judges: McConnell refused Obama's ability to fill them. McConnell purposefully held judicial seats open for years only to then fast-track Trump appointees, many of whom are horrendously underqualified.
RBG knew well before 2016 that McConnell was not letting Obama fill her seat.
I actually really like this as an option: a president would be forced to choose nominees who aren't hyperpartisan, as you would need at least some support from both parties to get someone appointed to the SCOTUS.
I agree that I don't love the idea of adding seats: it creates an ongoing issue. Instead, I honestly would like to see the nominations/hearings/votes for both Kavanaugh and Barrett investigated. Kavanaugh lied in his hearings, Barrett refused to answer legal questions and she was advanced to a vote in a way that broke Senate rules (at least 2 members of the minority party are meant to be present to advance, no democrats were present for her advancement). I would rather seek possible impeachment of one or both as justices, rather than expanding the court.
I mentioned this above but: McConnell was blocking Obama judicial nominees well before 2016. RBG wasn't stupid. She knew McConnell would block her seat being filled by Obama. She hoped that if she held out, Clinton would win, and McConnell would eventually be forced to put nominees to vote.
Those numbers for PA make me feel so much better. Trump won by such a razor thin margin in 2016, with that many more votes, it makes PA a much harder state for him to win.
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I saw somewhere that he won each of MI, PA, and WI by one county in each state. Macomb County, MI; York County, PA and Waukesha County, WI.