Outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, a group of demonstrators surrounded Democratic lawmakers to decry the Supreme Court and call for an expansion of the bench.

Senators Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., were joined by House co-sponsors Reps. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to reintroduce the Judiciary Act, which would expand the court by four seats from nine to 13. 

Schiff blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for the conservative super majority currently residing on the bench, when McConnell blocked the confirmation of current Attorney General Merrick Garland to the high court under then-President Barack Obama.

“McConnell refused to appoint an Obama nominee or even given that nominee a hearing and a vote on confirmation under the guise that it was too close to an election,” said Schiff. “Then what did he and Senate Republicans do? While Americans were literally voting for Joe Biden, he jammed through a Republican nominee. Now we must unpack and unstack the supreme court because Americans have begun to see the reactionary and partisan agenda pushed by it.”

Schiff, a former federal prosecutor who is currently running for the open Senate seat in California, called the bill “constitutional” and “clearly necessary.” The bill has been endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America, League of Conservation Voters, Demand Justice, Planned Parenthood, and Take Back the Court Action Fund.

“This is not a conservative court. Not in a legal sense. A conservative court would have some respect for precedent,” Schiff said. “This is instead a political and partisan court with a reactionary social agenda,” Schiff said. “Will we do anything about it? Or will we subject an entire generation of Americans to the loss of air rights, dirtier air and dirtier water and dirtier elections? Is that the fate we would have for the next generation?”

The introduction of the bill comes just weeks after the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform in response to revelations that billionaire conservative donor Harlan Crow over 20 years paid for private flights and luxury vacations for Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the travel. 

Thomas also did not disclose that he sold real estate to Crow, an apparent violation of reporting requirements. Bush called out Thomas, Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Chief Justice John Roberts in her remarks for making questionable ethics moves during their tenure on the court.

“The Supreme Court is a cesspool of corruption devastating our communities. Because of the decisions made by an unethical and illegitimate majority, my constituents are unable to access abortion care, have weaker labor protections, are more vulnerable to voter suppression, and are subjected to a racist legal system,” said Bush. “From Justice Clarence Thomas's failures to disclose lavish trips and gifts from a billionaire benefactor, to justice Neil Gorsuch selling his property to the head of a major law firm nine days after being confirmed to Chief Justice John Roberts’ wife ranking in millions of dollars by placing lawyers in elite law firms with business before the court. These are just some of the worst. Some of the most recent scandals we've seen, but probably not the worst. And they're only the ones that we know about.”

While Democrats have been pushing for a stricter code of ethics, Republicans continue to rebuff those efforts, making the expansion of the court an even more unlikely prospect with a closely divided Senate and a Republican-controlled House.