Democratic Midterm Gains Will Intensify Attacks on the Supreme Court and Pave the Way for Court-Packing
Source: Shawn Fleetwood. "Dems' War Against SCOTUS Is About To Get Even Worse." November 6, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that after big Democratic election wins, Democrats will go after conservative Supreme Court justices with ethics attacks and push to add more justices. He says Republicans can't count on the justices to defend themselves and need to fight back now, because a Democratic sweep in 2028 could let Democrats reshape the Court.
Conclusion
Democrats' post-midterm congressional majorities will escalate their campaign against the Supreme Court's conservative justices, and Republicans must actively fight these efforts because a Democratic trifecta in 2028 could lead to court-packing.
Premises
- Democrats are expected to win a sizeable House majority and at least 54 Senate seats, giving them power to investigate political opponents and block Trump's judicial and executive nominees, including any Supreme Court vacancy.
- Leading Democrats have openly signaled plans to revive 'ethics' attacks on Justices Thomas and Alito, which the author characterizes as dishonest and based on weak, partisan-sourced reporting.
- The ethics campaign has two goals: to delegitimize the Court in the public's eyes and to serve as a pretext for expanding the Court with left-wing justices.
- Prominent Democrats (Jeffries, Raskin) and allied groups (Demand Justice, Fix the Court) support increasing the number of justices and see the election results as validation of 'court reform.'
- Trump can block court-packing for the next two years, but if Democrats win the White House in 2028 and take trifecta control, expansion becomes feasible.
- The concern over Thomas and Alito retiring is minor compared to the threat of court-packing.
Assumptions
- The Democratic ethics criticisms of Thomas and Alito are baseless and pretextual rather than good-faith concerns.
- Democratic support for court expansion is motivated by partisan advantage rather than principled reform.
- Midterm results indicate Democrats will persist in and be emboldened by court-focused efforts.
- Court expansion would be illegitimate or harmful, and the current Court composition is the proper baseline.
- Republican political action can meaningfully counter Democratic efforts.
- Democrats winning the 2028 presidency and Congress is plausible enough to warrant concern now.
- Fundraising emails from advocacy groups reflect actual Democratic congressional plans.