Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said Monday he opposed the idea of packing the Supreme Court because Republicans would "do the same thing" once they regained power.
Instead, he called for "rotating judges" to lower courts and "bringing in new blood," if he couldn't institute term limits.
"Here is my concern about expanding the numbers of the Supreme Court," he said at the We The People summit in Washington. "What my worry is the next time the Republicans are in power, they will do the same thing, and so I think that is not the ultimate solution. What I do think may make sense is, if not term limits, then rotating judges to the appeals court as well, letting them get out of the Supreme Court and bringing in new blood."
"But at the end of the day, this is what I do believe ... What we have got to do is demand, and this is what my campaign is about, we have got to grow the voter turnout in this country," he added.
Sanders also railed against pro-life Republicans as hypocrites because they call for the government to "get off of the backs of the American people," except when it comes to abortion rights.
"That is absolute hypocrisy, and I will do everything I can, and there's a lot that a president can do, to make sure that that decision of whether or not one has an abortion is the decision of the woman," Sanders said.
The idea of the next Democratic president unilaterally nominating and confirming more judges to the Supreme Court—even when there is no vacancy—has built steam in the 2020 race, with such figures as former Attorney General Eric Holder and ex-Hillary Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon supporting the measure. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has formed a presidential exploratory committee, embraces the idea, and several other 2020 Democrats have expressed openness to it.
Democrats are still fuming over Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee in 2016 to replace the late Antonin Scalia, not receiving consideration from the Republican-controlled Senate. President Donald Trump has successfully nominated two Supreme Court judges, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the latter replacing Anthony Kennedy after he retired.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) introduced a proposed amendment to the Constitution last month that would limit the Supreme Court to nine justices. The current number of one chief justice and eight associate justices was established by the Judiciary Act of 1869.