Staff Reports
Former Vice President Kamala Harris told a national podcast this week that if Democrats retake Congress they should push big, lasting changes: expand the Supreme Court, rewrite the Electoral College, and make Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., into states. That short list of institutional changes landed like a bomb in plain sight — and it’s not just talk from a fringe voice. It’s a clear signal that some in the party are eyeing power plays, not just pocketbook promises.
Harris’s push: Court expansion, statehood and an Electoral College redo
On the Keke Palmer podcast, Former Vice President Kamala Harris said “we need to expand the Supreme Court” and that the “popular vote has to matter,” while urging Democrats to “push for statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.” Veteran strategist James Carville has made similar remarks, and Representative James Clyburn and Representative Al Green have publicly supported court expansion. These are big, structural changes — not small policy tweaks — and they would reshape American politics for a generation.
How those changes would actually work — and why they’re risky
Congress has the power to set the number of Supreme Court justices, so expanding the Court is legally possible with a congressional statute and a president willing to sign it. By contrast, changing the Electoral College is a constitutional problem that usually requires an amendment or a patchwork of state laws like the National Popular Vote compact. Making D.C. or Puerto Rico states would also be a congressional act. All of these moves are legally doable, but they would spark lawsuits, Senate fights over nominees, and an enormous voter backlash from citizens who see them as raw power grabs.
Message mismatch: affordability vs. big institutional changes
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been selling an affordability message — lower costs and kitchen-table issues. But when senior Democrats start talking about adding justices and creating new states, that message loses its edge. Carville even advised Democrats not to run on these ideas but to “just do it” if they get the chance. That’s a classic bait-and-switch: tell voters one thing and govern another. It’s not just bad politics; it’s a sure way to energize opponents and worry swing voters who don’t want constitutional experiments shoved through in the name of short-term advantage.
Bottom line: Voters should weigh power grabs, not slogans
There’s nothing wrong with debating how to improve the courts or the way we elect presidents. But a party that promises to fix people’s bills and then places court packing and state-adding at the top of its to-do list is asking for trouble. These are structural changes that last far longer than any single administration. Voters deserve honesty: if Democrats plan to remake the rules of American politics, say so upfront — don’t hide it behind a campaign about groceries and gas. The choice should be clear: real affordability solutions, or a constitutional makeover driven by partisan advantage. Americans should decide which they prefer.
