Rep. Jim Clyburn wants four more seats on the Supreme Court.
The South Carolina Democrat endorsed expanding the bench from nine justices to 13 during Sunday’s Meet the Press, putting a specific number behind his call for Congress to change the court.
Asked whether he supported adding four seats, Clyburn answered yes. He called a 13-member court a “baker’s dozen.”
Democrat Rep. Jim Clyburn agrees with Kamala Harris and calls to pack the Supreme Court.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 30, 2026
NBC: "Do you support adding 4 more seats?"
CLYBURN: “Yes, I do…13 is a pretty good number. A baker’s dozen would be a good number to have on the court.” pic.twitter.com/L2K5Paf9ZS
In the interview carried by NBC News, moderator Kristen Welker asked about the expansion proposal backed by former Vice President Kamala Harris. Clyburn said the moment called for significant congressional action and argued that the current court was moving the country backward.
He grounded that argument in the Reconstruction amendments and the civil-rights decisions of the Warren Court. His concern was the direction of constitutional interpretation, rather than a shortage of people to hear cases.
The proposal would increase the court’s membership by nearly half. It would create four lifetime appointments without waiting for any of the existing justices to retire.
That would make control of the presidency and Senate central to its practical effect. The officials responsible for filling those seats would have an opportunity to shape the court for decades.
The Washington Examiner also reported Clyburn’s reversal on Clarence Thomas. During the same appearance, the congressman said he no longer stood by his support for Thomas during the justice’s 1991 confirmation and acknowledged that he had made a mistake.
Clyburn said he had expected Thomas’s background and experiences to influence his approach to civil-rights precedent. He specifically pointed to decisions involving the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act when explaining why he was disappointed.
His objections extended beyond an individual ruling. Clyburn paired his criticism of Thomas with support for changing the number of people who would decide future cases.
Expansion would not itself remove Thomas or another sitting justice. It would add colleagues to the bench while the existing justices retained their offices.
The full court discussion is available in NBC’s interview video:
The Supreme Court explains that Congress determines the size of the bench, while the president nominates justices and the Senate votes on confirmation. Nine seats are not a number fixed in the Constitution.
The first Judiciary Act established six seats in 1789. Congress changed the authorized membership several times before settling on nine in 1869, and that number has remained unchanged ever since.
The court’s own explanation also addresses the 13 federal judicial circuits, a number frequently invoked in the expansion debate. The existing justices already divide responsibility for emergency applications and other matters arising from those circuits, with some assigned more than one.
Thirteen circuits therefore do not mean four circuits currently lack Supreme Court oversight. Expanding the bench would be a choice to change its membership, not a prerequisite for covering the existing circuit assignments.
Sunday’s interview was an endorsement of expansion, not a congressional vote enacting it. Clyburn cannot change the size of the court through a television appearance, and four additional seats do not exist simply because he supports them.
Still, the position was clear: when asked whether Congress should add four justices, Clyburn said yes. The next question is whether Democrats turn that demand into a legislative plan, including who would get to fill the seats.
