House and Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to expand the U.S. Supreme Court to 13 seats, from the current nine. Contrary to commentary from conservatives, the Constitution does not specify the number of seats the nation’s highest court should have, and this would not be the first time Congress has changed the size of the Court: it has been changed seven times before.

And as some point out, counting Senate Mitch McConnell’s refusal to allow President Barack Obama to fill an empty seat on the Supreme Court unofficially makes it eight times before.

The Judiciary Act of 2021 has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and in the House by Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Mondaire Jones (D-NY).

It merely reads: “Section 1 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘a Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom shall constitute a quorum’ and inserting ‘a Chief Justice of the United States and twelve associate justices, any eight of whom shall constitute a quorum’.”

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR):

Packing the Supreme Court would destroy the Supreme Court.

The Democrats will do anything for power.

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 15, 2021

Cotton also tweeted: “Court packing will be the end of the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and the end of the rule of law in America.”

Former DOJ director of public affairs and Clinton 2016 campaign national press secretary Brian Fallon responded, saying: “In Cotton’s home state of Arkansas right now, Republicans are pushing an amendment to the state Constitution to strip the state Supreme Court’s ability to set rules for how courts hear cases and give that power instead to the GOP-controlled legislature.”

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appears to believe a “conservative majority” is merely the Supreme Court’s natural state.

Those pushing this idea are among the most liberal in the entire Congress.

They are trying to dilute the conservative majority of the Court by implementing the radical policy of Court-packing.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 15, 2021

Former OANN host, coronavirus conspiracy theorist, anti-LGBTQ activist:

Crickets from the Never Trumpers who voted for Biden as the radical Democrats unveil a Supreme Court packing plan. Rest assured, Never Trumpers, I do blame you.

— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) April 15, 2021

Candace Owens, former Turning Point USA communications director who praised Hitler, saying, “if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, okay, fine,” but the problem is he “wanted to globalize”:

It has now been unveiled that the Democrats are planning to pack the Supreme Court.
This needs to be fought tooth and nail.
If they get this, Democracy in this country will become an illusion. America will pívot quickly into a socialist dictatorship.

Left or Right— WAKE UP.

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 15, 2021

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO):

Packing the Supreme Court is an act of political terrorism.

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) April 15, 2021

Mike Pompeo, former Trump Secretary of State and 2024 presidential hopeful:

Our Supreme Court Justices uphold the rule of law, not the emotion of law. Packing the Supreme Court to tilt favorable outcomes brings partisan politics into the courtroom. SCOTUS is the last place we need political games.

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) April 15, 2021

Anti-abortion extremist:

Packing the Supreme Court is a blatant power grab by the Democrats. The seat count has not changed since 1869.

If we allow them to do this, say hello to a one-party system. It would unhinge our Democratic Republic and destroy much of the little political compromise that’s left.

— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) April 15, 2021

Kim Potter, the 26-year veteran police officer who allegedly thought she was holding a taser instead of a handgun will be charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 20-year old Daunte Wright.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput announced the charge Wednesday.

Potter reportedly was training other officers when Wright was pulled over, allegedly due to expired plates. She resigned on Tuesday, as did the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police chief.

The Daily Beast notes that after police ran Daunte Wright’s name they found he “had an outstanding gross misdemeanor warrant and tried to take him into custody. Body-cam footage of the arrest shows one officer yanking Wright from his car to handcuff him—but he then tries to go back inside.”

During a chaotic struggle, Potter is seen pulling out a gun and firing a single shot while yelling, “Taser Taser!” Realizing she in fact used her firearm, the cop can be heard saying: “Holy shit, I shot him.”

A handful of the Senate’s more moderate Republicans thought they would be at the center of legislative negotiations with President Joe Biden, but instead find themselves on the sidelines as Democrats push ahead with a sweeping agenda.

Members of the so-called G-10 say they’re eager to negotiate deals with the White House, after steering COVID-19 relief under former president Donald Trump, but they’re instead largely irrelevant and unable to shake the GOP reputation as obstructionists, reported Politico.

“It’s a f*cking nightmare,” complained one G-10 staffer. “Biden is a horrible villain for us. There are deeply entrenched narratives that have some truth but are no longer totally true. Reporters believe them despite all evidence to the contrary.”

Staffers complain that the White House is “constantly rubbing dirt in the face of Republicans” by inviting them to White House meetings as Senate Democrats push through legislation with their narrow majority through reconciliation.

“If you get an invitation to the White House, you go to the White House,” said another G-10 staffer. “But regardless, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. When you go to the White House meeting you risk being used in a feigned attempt at bipartisanship. If you don’t go then it’s, ‘Oh, Republicans won’t even meet with me.’ It all pivots on whether it’s a genuine offer from the White House or just part of their messaging strategy.”

The senators — including Susan Collins (R-ME), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) — may not like the situation, but they grudgingly concede that Biden’s White House has firmly grabbed control of the narrative.

“Everything they support is defined as either COVID relief or infrastructure, and everything they oppose is like … Jim Crow voter suppression and evil,” said a G-10 aide, “and you constantly just feel like you’re in this gaslighting chamber of insanity. But it’s working.”