• @jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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    461 month ago

    Fun fact, Congress can change the size of the Supreme Court at will for any reason.

    They SHRUNK the court in 1866 from 9 to 7 because they just fucking hated Andrew Johnson THAT MUCH and they wanted to deny him a nomination.

    After Johnson was out, they raised it back up to 9 in 1869, Granting 2, and it stayed that way ever since.

    https://www.history.com/news/supreme-court-justices-number-constitution

    “The Supreme Court had just ruled that paper money was unconstitutional, which would have ‘wreaked havoc’ with the U.S. Treasury, says Marcus. But Grant and Congress quickly confirmed two new justices who reversed the Court’s decision in the earlier case, saving the Republicans from having to undo the nation’s entire system of legal tender.”