Members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party (full disclosure: that’s where I land as a Democratic Socialist) want to increase the size of the U.S. Supreme Court when they take over. That’s fully within Congress’ right; however, adding additional justices would be tough, bordering on impossible. (More on that later.) But what’s great is that Congress doesn’t have to do that to gain at least one seat back on the Court for a Democratic president to appoint. You just have to de-monetize the positions.
Packing the Court proved impossible for even Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a president who had a super-majority super-progressive Congress at his disposal. Instead, we have the kind of corporate Democrats who talk the talk but always have a really good excuse for why Americans can’t have nice things like Medicare for All, affordable housing or college, living wages, or money out of politics. They’re great at sending strongly worded letters (I wish that were a joke), but they will stymie any bills that would allow the United States to become a First World country again.
Luckily, we don’t have to pack the court. We can demonetize it.
Right now, as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, you can accept an unlimited number of bribes of whatever size from parties who have cases before you. No other federal judge can do that (thank God!), but for those with the biggest sway, comes the biggest spoils. (Kudos to Fix the Court, which keeps a tally of the SCOTUS grift. Also, ProPublica has been at the forefront of the gift grift.)
Justice Clarence Thomas alone accounts for more than $4 million in bribes gifts. For comparison, all the gifts reported by all federal judges in 2023 and 2024 came to less than $1 million in total. And if you have any doubt that Thomas is in it for the money, he’ll dispel that notion himself. Early in his career, Thomas threatened to resign from the High Court unless the Republican-controlled Congress increased his salary. But that apparently wasn’t enough. Thomas pushed to allow Supreme Court justices to accept speaking fees.
But the real money, of course, is in all those gifts!
- Millionaire-level vacations — lots of them.
- Free rent for Thomas’ mama.
- Private-school tuition.
- A luxury RV.
- Tickets to skybox seats for games.
- Great seats to the Daytona 500.
Right now, Thomas and Alito have indicated that they have no desire to resign, the former wanting the gravy train to continue, the latter probably out of orneriness.
The redoubtable Congressmembers Jamie Raskin and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez introduced the High Court Gift Ban Act in 2024, limiting the justices to gifts of $50 or less. That would certainly impel Thomas to leave the bench in order to — well, I have no idea what his next grift would be. A man who threatens to leave the Supreme Court unless they shovel money at him isn’t going to stay without that money coming in the door.
So, elect a Democratic Congress, pass that bill limiting the gifts, and — poof! — at least one grifter gone, and an open seat to be filled with a judge with actual ethics.
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