pack the court

idiomatic phrase

: to increase the number of justices on a court and especially the United States Supreme Court causing the ideological makeup of the Court to shift

"… But if you want to increase the size of the court—pack the court, as it were—all you need is an act of Congress. …"

—David Kaplan

In the simplest terms, court packing is the mechanism of adding Supreme Court justices to a nine person Supreme Court. Packing the court is legal …

—Adam Ramer

The Supreme Court has had nine justices for more than 150 years, but the Constitution does not require nine. Congress sets that number. "Nine seems to be a good number. It's been that way for a long time," [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg told NPR in July 2019. "I think it was a bad idea when President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court."

—Megan Henney

Three new positions on the state Court of Appeals were created unlawfully by the Legislature and must be eliminated, a lawyer for a Republican state lawmaker told a judge Friday. Attorneys … argued … over what GOP legislators describe as a move by former Gov. Jim Hunt to pack the court with Democrats.

—Gary D. Robertson

President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously tried to pack the Supreme Court in 1937.

—Collin Peterson and Denver Riggleman

Examples of pack the court in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Along with the Bryants, plenty of other stars packed the court to cheer them on. —Julie Mazziotta, Peoplemag, 9 Aug. 2024

In the 1930s, FDR attempted to pack the court with six more justices but wasn't successful. —Ivana Saric, Axios, 29 July 2024

The Roberts court has brought constitutional balance back to the court, and the liberals in this country want to pack the court. —CBS News, 28 July 2024

But packing the court would answer Republican politicization with Democratic politicization. —Editorial Board, Washington Post, 26 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above