Pete Buttigieg proposes adding six seats to Supreme Court

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has proposed expanding the U.S. Supreme Court to address what he describes as a “nakedly partisan institution.” During an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Buttigieg suggested that adding six additional justices to the current nine-member bench could serve to reform the court and reduce political influence.

Buttigieg stated that the goal of the expansion is not to add seats for their own sake, but to make the institution less partisan. This proposal follows previous comments made by Buttigieg regarding the decline of public confidence in the court. In earlier discussions, he had suggested a larger expansion to 13 seats and advocated for other reforms, such as term limits for justices and a “balanced bench” selection process.