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A presidential commission to examine whether to add more seats or impose term limits on the nine-justice supreme court is expected to release an early draft report today. President Biden setup the commission in April.

Calls to add members to the court came after Donald Trump was able to confirm three new conservative justices to the court, effectively creating a 6-3 conservative super majority. One seat filled by Trump was a seat left empty during the Obama administration, which the former president was unable to fill because Senate Republicans would not consider Obama’s nomination.

The Supreme Court during its current term is considering major cases in which its conservative majority could restrict abortion rights and widen gun rights, alarming liberals.

Republicans have opposed the idea of expanding the number of justices, which they call “court packing.” Democrats have said the current makeup of the court no longer represents the will of the U.S. electorate.

President Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis on 29 October before attending a two-day summit of G20 leaders in Rome where he hopes to reach agreement on a Global Minimum Tax of 15%, a White House official told Reuters.

On the second foreign trip of his presidency, Biden will then attend the UN climate conference known as COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, from 1-2 November and announce “key actions” on the conference’s top themes, including goals for fighting climate change and forest and land use, the official said.

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Source: The Guardian