Many Democrats Want To Take It On— But Not All Of Them
Yesterday, Andrew Desiderio, John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman got the day started by noting that their sources among the DC Democrats are pessimistic about retaining the White House and the Senate and energy is being focused on taking back the House. [Welcome to the party, DC Democrats!] “The House,” they wrote, “becomes the priority. We’re hearing tons of chatter in Democratic circles that suggests much of the donor cash could shift to House races. Democrats only need to pick up five seats to take the majority.The thinking here is that with the Senate almost certainly lost and confidence in Biden waning, the House could end up being the only thing that’s winnable for Democrats. Some Democrats now see a House majority as their only chance to prevent a GOP trifecta. This would ensure that Democrats have, at the very least, a seat at the negotiating table for next year’s legislative battles, from the debt limit to government spending to the expiration of the Trump-era tax cuts.”
There are many reasons why it’s important for the Democrats— and more specifically progressive Democrats— to win in November. In recent days, reforming the Supreme Court has finally hit more peoples’ consciousnesses. Right now the most popular legislative solution, H.R. 3422 whiich would expand the Court from 9 to 13 members, proposed by the House Judiciary Committee Democrats, is collecting co-sponsors. There are 63 of them; here’s the list. There are principled progressives like Jamie Raskin, Cori Bush, Pramila Jayapal, AOC, Summer Lee… to Members less committed to movement progressivism, from Adam Schiff, Juan Vargas, Don Beyer, Brendan Boyle, Gerry Connolly, Emanuel Cleaver… Some of these co-sponsors have left or are leaving the House. Schiff and Andy Kim, for example, will be going to the Senate. Jamaal Bowman, Katie Porter, Barbara Lee are among the strong progressives who won’t be part of the 119th Congress.
That means we need to elect new Members committed to this kind of Supreme Court reform. Diane Young, running in a purple district north of Detroit, should be able to beat the very vulnerable MAGA incumbent, John James, who only won by 1,600 votes against a weak conservative Dem in 2022. Gov Whitmer won the district on the same day by nearly 7 points. In fact, all the women on the top of ticket won the district. James, a carpetbagger who doesn’t even live in the district, has a bad history on abortion and the Prop 3 proposal enshrining abortion rights in Michigan won Diane’s district by a wide margin. Even Republicans voted for it because it was about keeping the government out of doctors’ offices.
“I would definitely support expanding the Supreme Court to 13 judges,” she told us today. “There should be one Supreme Court Judge for each circuit court. Currently, several judges have to cover more than one circuit court. In addition, I would support a proposal for term limits for the judges. One such proposal that looks compelling is an 18 year term limit, staggering them so a president only has two openings during their four years. Congress also needs to enforce stricter code of ethics on the Supreme Court.”
Similarly, Wisconsin progressive Eric Wilson would also sign on as a co-sponsor. “Since the judiciary seems to be unable to enact its own ethics codes,” he said, “we need the House to step in. I would be in support of legislation like H.R.3422 to expand the court. With the current number of justices each individual has more power and we need to make this change so it can hold itself accountable. The number of justices has not been updated by Congress since 1869. It's time.”
Wilson wants to take on an unhinged MAGA incumbent endorsed by Trump, Derrick Van Orden, who only won their purple district in 2022 because the DCCC decided to run a Republican-lite Blue Dog. This cycle they’re trying to run a mirror image, Rebecca Cooke, endorsed by the Blue Dogs and the pro-genocide coalition. Last cycle, the Blue Dog Brad Pfaff lost the district by 3 points on the same day Gov. Evers was winning it by a point.
A progressive champion, Wilson’s the only candidate capable of motivating the 55,000 students in the district’s 6 universities. That’s because he’s the only one to have called for a ceasefire and talked about gun reform, the only one supporting universal health care and student loan forgiveness— all key issues for young people and progressives.
Thomas Witkop is the youngest congressional nominee and he’s running to take down MAGA Republican Brian Mast who votes in lock-step with Trump— voting, for example, against certifying the election and voting to defund NATO. Witkop is mobilizing young people and folks in disenfranchised communities who understand how Mast and the political system are owned and operated by special interests utterly out of touch with the people. With abortion on the ballot, Planned Parenthood will be dumping 8 million dollars into mobilizing votes for amendment 4 into the West Palm Beach Media market which completely encompasses Witkop's district. He’s backing amendment 4 and Mast is opposing it. “I plan to go to Washington to represent my neighbors in Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Martin counties, not the special interests represented by the DC armies of lobbyists,” he told us. “We want to protect women's right to choose, workers' rights to collective bargaining, a vibrant democracy, healthy waterways, racial and economic justice and healthcare for all Americans. My opponent looks out for the corporate interests who have financed his career and the result is an existential Climate Crisis, a broken immigration system and a weakened public education system. H.R. 3422 is a first step in solving these problems in a systemic way they need to be addressed. I'd co-sponsor this legislation and I'd work to address ending the idea of lifetime terms for justices.”
Please consider contributing to Diane’s, Eric’s and Thomas’ campaigns. If these 3 seats flip, the GOP has ZERO chance of coming even close to holding onto the House.
if many democraps want to reform the courts, why hasn't even one started to try?