As the U.S. Supreme Court has shifted sharply to the right in recent years, there’s ample evidence that Americans’ attitudes toward the high court have also changed. Released two weeks ago, the latest Pew Research Center poll, for example, showed favorable views of the institution hovering at generational lows. The same week, the latest Gallup poll showed public confidence in the Supreme Court falling to a record low of just 33%.
The conditions suggest there’s an opportunity for policymakers to pursue some meaningful institutional reforms that might help restore public confidence in the Supreme Court. The question is, what are Democrats prepared to do about it?
By any fair measure, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina is widely recognized as a prominent voice representing the Democratic establishment. The 17-term incumbent spent much of his career as a member of the party’s leadership in the House, and his declarations are often a key indicator of where the party’s mainstream stands.
With this in mind, the longtime lawmaker raised plenty of eyebrows during his latest appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he endorsed expanding the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13.
“I think we are in a position now that calls for some significant actions taken by the Congress and we ought to expand,” Clyburn told host Kristen Welker, “and 13 is a pretty good number. A baker’s dozen, it would be a good number to have on the court.”
Because the United States has 13 federal circuit courts, this number is often mentioned by reform advocates.
Clyburn’s comments came just a few weeks after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention and voiced support for “dramatic” Supreme Court reforms.
“The Supreme Court, the conservative right-wing majority on the Supreme Court, has become basically a subsidiary of the MAGA Republican Party,” the New York Democrat said, adding that the justices seem to believe “the status quo is acceptable. It’s not.”
Jeffries didn’t elaborate on the specific reforms he had in mind, though the Democrat, positioned to be the next House speaker if his party reclaims a majority, said there are “a variety of different options that are on the table” and he’s not prepared to “foreclose any single one of them.”
If it seems leading Democratic voices are embracing similar stances with increasing frequency and enthusiasm, it’s not your imagination. Just two weeks before Jeffries made his comments, former Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the National Urban League’s annual conference and said, “We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 justices like we have 13 district courts.”
A month earlier, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro voiced support for “radical reform” to the Supreme Court, which came on the heels of Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia agreeing that “all options have to be on the table” when it comes to changing the high court.
Earlier this month, Sen. Adam Schiff of California also wrote an opinion piece for The Los Angeles Times, making the case for “urgent” reform.
“It’s no secret that the Supreme Court has become an extension of our partisan politics over the past decade,” Schiff said in his op-ed. “The decisions handed down in the 2026 session prove just how broken the court has become and how unrepresentative it is of the views of the American people.”
In the coming months, there will likely be plenty of debate among advocates about the kind of changes to pursue and the political viability of the competing ideas. It’s also a safe bet that many reformers will disagree with one another about the details. But the bottom line remains the same: In Democratic politics, the conversation has shifted rapidly to how, not whether, to reform the Supreme Court, and as Clyburn’s on-air comments made clear, this is no longer a fringe priority.
As many in the party start eyeing the 2028 presidential race, don’t be surprised if this becomes a litmus-test issue for many Democratic voters.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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