Overview
- Kamala Harris, speaking on the Win With Black Women podcast Thursday, floated expanding the Supreme Court, granting statehood to Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and changing the Electoral College to, in her words, “neutralize these red states from cheating.”
- Republican leaders condemned the ideas, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the approach a “dangerous gambit,” and right-leaning opinion writers framing the list as a bid to lock in Democratic power.
- Altering or abolishing the Electoral College would almost certainly require a constitutional amendment, and past bipartisan Justice Department opinions have said D.C. statehood by statute conflicts with the Constitution and the 23rd Amendment.
- Puerto Rico could be admitted by Congress without an amendment, but its commonwealth status and mixed referendum history make the path politically and administratively complex.
- Commentators point to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s failed 1937 bid to enlarge the Supreme Court as a cautionary example, arguing court expansion risks the Court’s perceived independence, and note no legislation has been introduced as the debate plays out in opinion pages.