Collins opposes expansion as political interference
Susan CollinsU.S. senator from Maine and Republican nominee
Collins condemns adding justices to alter the Court's balance as undermining judicial independence.
“What we want is a Supreme Court that is insulated from politics. ... To try to pack the court by increasing the numbers goes completely against the vision of those who wrote the Constitution. ... it's inconsistent with the whole idea of the Supreme Court being insulated from politics. ... That would make it a totally political body.”
Original video
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Susan Collins and Troy Jackson split over Supreme Court expansion
Troy Jackson says he is open to adding Supreme Court justices alongside ethics reform and term limits. Susan Collins says expansion would undermine judicial independence and turn the Court into a political body. They differed at their October 15 Maine Senate debate.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
The full debate includes court expansion, ethics and term-limit proposals, followed by a separate exchange about campaign finance.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
Maine Public reports the October 15 exchange. Its publication date is not the date the candidates spoke.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Jackson has just said he is not against adding justices. Panelist Phil Hirschkorn of NEWS CENTER Maine then asks Collins what is wrong with term limits and more justices, which he says proponents see as bringing ideological balance and giving every president a chance to appoint at least one justice.
After the quotation
Between the second and third passages, Collins says she is the only Republican senator who voted for Justices Sotomayor, Jackson and Kagan, and Hirschkorn notes that nine seats are not in the Constitution. Jackson replies that the current Court is the best that money can buy.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is increasing the number of Supreme Court justices. Collins condemns adding justices to alter the Court's balance as undermining judicial independence.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseJackson is open to adding Supreme Court justices
“we have to have real ethics reform that's accountable, that you can hold people to. I think that we should have term limits. And I'm not against putting more people on the court because this court obviously is not working.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Collins opposes expansion as political interference
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/6037-collins-condemns-adding-justices-to-alter-the-court
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Collins opposes expansion as political interference". First published: 2026-10-19. Last updated: 2026-10-19. https://disputeindex.com/events/6037-collins-condemns-adding-justices-to-alter-the-court