FDR's Court Packing Plan
Following his landslide electoral victory in the election of 1936, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt embarked on a plan to address his frustration with the conservative Supreme Court, which he perceived as intent on slowing down the progress of the New Deal. Roosevelt's plan was to introduce legislation that would reshape the court. Roosevelt asked Congress for the power to appoint one additional judge to the federal judiciary every justice who had reached the age of seventy but declined to retire. His stated purpose was to increase the efficiency of the judiciary, but it was clear that Roosevelt was targeting six of the nine Supreme Court justices who had challenged his domestic programs.
At the time, the Chief Justice of the court was Charles Evans Hughes, a former Republican presidential candidate. The Hughes Court had been relatively balanced ideologically, with a conservative coalition composed of Justices McReynolds, Van Devanter, Sutherland and Butler and liberal justices, Brandeis, Stone and Cardozo, with Justice Owen Roberts and Chief Justice Charles Evans remaining more or less moderate. At first the Court had upheld most of Roosevelt's programs, but in the previous years, the majority, led by Chief Justice Hughes, it had ruled against the government in several cases, finding that the executive branch had unconstitutionally assumed powers reserved for the legislature. The Court invalidated portions of New Deal measures.
Many opponents of the President felt that he was attempting to assume too much power and infringing on the independence of the other two branches. The judicial reorganization plan sparked intense debate and mobilized conservative New Deal foes. Roosevelt attracted resistance from within his own party. Angered that they had not been consulted prior to his announcement and aggravated by what they saw as territorial encroachment, Senate Democrats provided some of the strongest resistance to his proposal.
Chief Justice Hughes fought vigorously against reorganization, providing court records as evidence to discredit Roosevelt's criticism and demonstrate the Court's efficiency.
Circimstances intervened to prevent the issue from coming to a head. The Supreme Court upheld as constitutional both the Wagner Act and the Social Security Act, two crucial pieces of New Deal legislation. In May Justice Van Devanter announced his retirement. The appearance of Court support for his policies and an opportunity for a Supreme Court appointment took the steam out of Roosevelt's court packing plan and the measure was allowed to die in committee. On July 22, 1937 (74 years ago today), the United States Senate voted down the President's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. But by this time Roosevelt had a Court he could live with.
The issue served to energize conservative opposition and harmed Roosevelt's relations with Congress. In his annual message to Congress in 1939, Roosevelt shifted his focus to the tense international scene and his request for increased defence spending. The intervention of the war probably prevented Roosevelt's defeat in 1940.
At the time, the Chief Justice of the court was Charles Evans Hughes, a former Republican presidential candidate. The Hughes Court had been relatively balanced ideologically, with a conservative coalition composed of Justices McReynolds, Van Devanter, Sutherland and Butler and liberal justices, Brandeis, Stone and Cardozo, with Justice Owen Roberts and Chief Justice Charles Evans remaining more or less moderate. At first the Court had upheld most of Roosevelt's programs, but in the previous years, the majority, led by Chief Justice Hughes, it had ruled against the government in several cases, finding that the executive branch had unconstitutionally assumed powers reserved for the legislature. The Court invalidated portions of New Deal measures.
Many opponents of the President felt that he was attempting to assume too much power and infringing on the independence of the other two branches. The judicial reorganization plan sparked intense debate and mobilized conservative New Deal foes. Roosevelt attracted resistance from within his own party. Angered that they had not been consulted prior to his announcement and aggravated by what they saw as territorial encroachment, Senate Democrats provided some of the strongest resistance to his proposal.
Chief Justice Hughes fought vigorously against reorganization, providing court records as evidence to discredit Roosevelt's criticism and demonstrate the Court's efficiency.
Circimstances intervened to prevent the issue from coming to a head. The Supreme Court upheld as constitutional both the Wagner Act and the Social Security Act, two crucial pieces of New Deal legislation. In May Justice Van Devanter announced his retirement. The appearance of Court support for his policies and an opportunity for a Supreme Court appointment took the steam out of Roosevelt's court packing plan and the measure was allowed to die in committee. On July 22, 1937 (74 years ago today), the United States Senate voted down the President's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. But by this time Roosevelt had a Court he could live with.
The issue served to energize conservative opposition and harmed Roosevelt's relations with Congress. In his annual message to Congress in 1939, Roosevelt shifted his focus to the tense international scene and his request for increased defence spending. The intervention of the war probably prevented Roosevelt's defeat in 1940.