Midterms Point the Way to Supreme Court Reform

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 4, 2026 – The Democrats’ significant victories in the House and Senate this week will create important opportunities to hold the Trump White House and greater MAGA movement accountable to the people, including by reforming the out-of-control Supreme Court.

Many of Tuesday’s prominent winners have already endorsed various aspects of Supreme Court reform, including term limits, a binding code of ethics, increased transparency, and even expanding the Court with additional justices. Illinois Senator-elect Juliana Stratton (D), who will take the seat of outgoing Senate Judiciary Committee Minority Leader Dick Durbin, said that all options should be on the table for reform. Minnesota Senator-elect Peggy Flanagan (D) has openly called for adding seats to the bench. Texas Senator-elect James Talarico (D) has called for a complete “overhaul” of the Court, expressing support for all major reforms.

Democratic senators will now have the power to pull our courts back from partisanship and corruption in many important ways over the next two years. In addition to investigating the administration’s corruption under Trump’s leadership, they should also investigate the clear corruption of many Supreme Court justices, including the unprecedented use of the “shadow docket” to rule in favor of the administration without transparency or accountability to the people. Meanwhile, they can prevent Trump from adding any more of his loyalist judges — who won’t even acknowledge the winner of the 2020 election — to the lower courts. And they can lay the groundwork for significant reform, including adding seats a future president could fill to finally end the tyranny of the partisan majority.

Alliance for Justice President Rachel Rossi issued the following statement:

“Tuesday’s elections were a moment of hope and determination for protecting our courts and restoring our democracy. We have been hemorrhaging civil rights, voting rights, and access to justice for too long. There is a clear path to ending the partisan takeover of the courts and finally returning to equal justice under the law for all people — not just the rich and powerful. The Court’s corruption is evident, and this is a prime opportunity to shine a bright light on how the justices have been abusing their power for profit. Doing so will only strengthen the case for reining in the Court’s excesses and finally ending its political manipulation. The opportunity to reform the Court is overdue, but it is more popular than ever, and it’s time to get to work.”