Sam Alito Is Power Mad

“Alito to Congress: drop dead.” https://t.co/VvjiO4GCNv

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 28, 2023

And that makes him ignorant:

Just to take one example of a Congress’s many powers over the Court, here’s the text of Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution:https://t.co/nbCsQiUNTu

And don’t get me started on the Court’s budget. pic.twitter.com/H3KDMMZn44

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 28, 2023

Just to be clear, *without* legislation enacted by Congress, #SCOTUS would have one Justice; no budget; no building; no staff; no library; and no cases to resolve other than interstate disputes—the proceedings and dispositions of which the lone Justice would have to self-fund.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 28, 2023

Of course, more than a few people are ignorant:

Not “period,” Hugh. Congress has a wide array of powers it uses (and has used) to regulate the Court—powers it has used consistently, and often with the Court’s blessing, dating back to when Congress first created and funded the Court and its six Justices in 1789. https://t.co/QrLIBUArI9

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 28, 2023

1/3: A big part of why I wrote my book on #SCOTUS—“The Shadow Docket”—was to arm folks who aren’t necessarily students and scholars of American history with a better understanding of how the Supreme Court has gradually been given (and has taken) power from the political branches.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 28, 2023

3/3: Reasonable minds can differ as to how much the political branches *should* exert themselves in keeping the Court—and the justices—in some kind of normative equilibrium.

But that conversation’s about *political* constraints on the political branches, not constitutional ones.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 28, 2023

One might almost suspect Alito is setting up a “legitimacy” argument against any action Congress might take. Which could really call into question the legitimacy of the Court.

Justice Alito doesn’t hold one of the six seats that Congress created in the Judiciary Act of 1789. His seat was created on March 3, 1837—when Congress created the Eighth and Ninth Circuits.

Lucky for him that Congress had the power to regulate the Court’s size… pic.twitter.com/ZkyuMUyOdc

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 29, 2023