What She Actually Said

Kamala Harris spoke to Emerge, a nonprofit focused on electing Democratic women, and called for "expanding the court," pushing statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., and reconsidering the Electoral College entirely, according to The Independent.

"We've got to neutralize this red-state cheating," Harris said.

She also told a podcast — reported by the Washington Post — that "this is a moment where there are no bad ideas." The Post's own editorial board called this a "mindless flirtation with court packing." Even the Washington Post thinks this is reckless.

The Trigger: Louisiana v. Callais

Harris tied her court-packing push specifically to the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. The case involved competing redistricting maps in Louisiana under the Voting Rights Act, with the Court's ruling drawing criticism from Democrats who argued it undermined minority voting power in redistricting disputes.

Harris called this decision "back-dooring racism through politics."

Republican-controlled states including Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina moved quickly after the ruling to redraw district maps. Tennessee eliminated its only Black-majority district in Memphis, splitting it into three GOP-leaning districts.

But Harris didn't stop at criticizing the ruling. She used it to justify expanding the court.

What the Media Is Getting Wrong

Fox News covered this mostly as a political spectacle — framing it as Harris "going left" to stay relevant.

Left-leaning coverage, including from The Independent, framed the redistricting issue sympathetically without scrutinizing Harris's proposed solutions. Calling a Supreme Court ruling "cheating" and proposing to add justices until you get the outcomes you want deserves scrutiny.

The Washington Post's editorial board called the court-packing idea what it is: mindless.

This Isn't New — It's Still a Bad Idea

FDR tried court-packing in 1937 after the Supreme Court kept striking down his New Deal programs. Congress — controlled by his own party — rejected it. Democrats killed it.

Harris is reviving a plan that failed 88 years ago, championed by a president with far more political capital than she currently has.

The current court has nine justices. It has had nine since 1869. Adding seats because you lost three appointments — including the seat Democrats believe was stolen when Senate Republicans blocked Merrick Garland in 2016 — sets a precedent that every future majority will expand the court. You end up with 15 justices, then 21, then the court ceases to function as an independent institution.

The Electoral College Push

Harris also called for reconsidering the Electoral College, per Fox News's reporting. This is the second time in recent memory that a major Democratic figure has pushed to eliminate the system that requires winning across geographic America — not just stacking up votes in five major metro areas.

The Electoral College forces presidential candidates to build broad coalitions across diverse states. Eliminating it means New York, California, Texas, and Florida decide every election. Voters in Iowa, Montana, or New Hampshire would have diminished influence.

Why Harris Is Doing This

She lost to Donald Trump in 2024. She is, according to The Independent, considering a 2028 presidential run. These comments read less like a governing philosophy and more like an audition for the progressive base.

Harris holds no elected office right now. She has no committee seats, no governorship, no Senate seat. Her platform is speeches to friendly audiences.

What This Means for Regular People

If any of this actually happened — court packing, Electoral College elimination, D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood all at once — it would permanently restructure American government in ways that could never be undone.

More Supreme Court seats means more political nominees. More political nominees means the court stops being a court and becomes a super-legislature.

Abandoning the Electoral College means votes in small states matter less every election going forward.

Adding Puerto Rico and D.C. to the Senate — both of which would almost certainly elect Democrats — would add four reliably partisan Senate seats overnight.

This is restructuring the system because you lost, not reform.