Senator Michael Bennet offered a soft rebuke of court packing in comments reported Friday in the Colorado Sun.
“I don’t think the American public is interested in having the Supreme Court expanded,” he said.
This statement is sure to infuriate Bennet’s left-wing base, including prospective primary opponents like Joe Salazar.
However, there’s a catch to Bennet’s alleged court packing “opposition.”
Bennet also told the Sun recently he supports “reforming” the filibuster, which in practice is the main obstacle for Democrats who want to expand the nation’s highest court.
“I hope we get to a place where at a minimum we can figure out how to bring back the talking filibuster,” said Bennet, referencing a proposal rule to make senators speak on the chamber floor while they are trying to block a bill.
But if Republicans dig in their heels? “We may end up with obstruction that is too intense. We may end up having to reform it in some other way,” said Bennet, who spoke at a Colorado Sun event on Thursday. [emphasis added]
Moreover, Bennet also supports D.C. statehood which would produce two more guaranteed Democrat votes for expanding the Supreme Court.
Bennet cannot credibly claim to oppose court packing while threatening to blow up the only structural hurdles that would prevent a future Democrat majority from doing just that.
This sleight of hand from Bennet is a bit like saying “I don’t support this building going up in flames, but I’m going to unplug the smoke detectors anyway.”
So long as Bennet remains committed to filibuster “reform” and insane ideas like making a solidly Democrat city the size of DIA a state, he supports court packing in every way but name.