Kamala Harris and Democrats Call for Supreme Court Expansion

Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg have renewed calls to expand the membership of the Supreme Court of the United States to ensure a liberal majority. These proposals coincide with criticism from other Democratic leaders, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the latter of whom characterized the institution as "illegitimate."

These calls for expansion come despite data from a Marquette Law School poll showing the Court is more popular than Congress or the major political parties, with a 47% favorability rating compared to 44% in 2025. The poll also indicates that a majority of Americans agree with the Court's major decisions from the past year, including rulings Harris has described as attacks on democracy.

Within the judiciary, liberal justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer have pushed back against the narrative that the conservative majority is ideologically robotic or partisan.