Question

According to his critics, why did President Roosevelt propose increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court?

Answer 1

Roosevelt proposed appointing up to six new Supreme Court justices. He claimed that he wanted to relieve the overworked judges. However, conservatives protested. They understood that FDR had designed this "court-packing plan" to gain a majority of justices. Congress embarrassed the President by defeating his plan. Even so, FDR won a backdoor victory. When a conservative justice resigned in 1937, Roosevelt appointed a liberal in his place. FDR eventually named eight Supreme Court justices.