Hard to imagine a courageous Congress, I know, but the size of the majority decides alot, in courage and on ability to pass laws. One dick like Sinema, one twat like Manchin and there goes your ability to legislate, either of those vote with the 50 lockstep Trumpistas and Biden is weak and unable to pass laws, implement policies

A bigger Democratic majority in both houses in 2023 will enable senators to carve out the filibuster for voting rights, avoiding climate catastrophe and rebalancing the. Supreme Court. McConnell promptly did away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees right after Trump’s inauguration to install three 51-49 right-wing Christian extremists. The Koch-packed court, chosen for demonstrated loyalty to a set of ultra- conservative values, must be expanded. Federal voting rights must be protected, steps to halt the ecosphere’s destruction must start. There is no other option, really.

Meanwhile, here are some good ideas for a strong Congress to do, from a Harvard Law School professor who was on a panel, speaking to Dahlia Lithwick on her excellent podcast Amicus (link below🙂

Nico Booy (faculty, Harvard Law School): But in the past, when Congress and the court have been in conflict and Congress has been motivated to do something, Congress has so many weapons at its disposal to ensure that our democracy is run by a legislature and not by a court. So Congress can strip the court of jurisdiction. It can strip the court of its building. It can strip the court of its summer recess. It can strip the court of its clerks. It can say, if you want to strike down our democratic laws, do so yourselves. Rather than relying on these 24 year olds, they can strip the court of it’s discretionary jurisdiction. It can strip the court of the power to enjoin laws. It can say no more federal courts can enjoin national laws and a nationwide system without a super-majority of the Supreme Court. It can change the court’s jurisdiction. It can put the court’s jurisdiction in the D.C. Circuit. Congress can do all sorts of stuff. And in the past, Congress has done so. When Congress was worried about the court invalidating Reconstruction, it simply took the case out of the court’s hand and said, Court, you no longer have jurisdiction over these cases.

The problem we’re facing now is a Congress unwilling to fight back, not a Congress incapable of fighting back. And I think the conflict is something that Congress needs to embrace, because I think, as you were correctly, identifying the status quo is going to lead to an unsustainable system in which everyone is being forced to give birth, in which we’re all going to burn, because we’re not doing anything about climate change in which no one can vote except for members of the Supreme Court.

https://slate.com/transcripts/STFOYk8vVnAwYWwveUN0SjRBTXk3aWZuTUR5NnpzUkZ0ejB4VnFUdDZFZz0=