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Because a lot of FDR's policies were in direct conflict with the constitution and the principles the nation was founded on. For example, in executive orders he unconstitutionally forced American citizens of Japanese decent into "internment camps", he forced American businesses to fix prices and wages and confiscated gold which was the private property of American citizens and forced them to "sell" it to the US government which then melted the coins into bars and sold them at a profit. FDR of course didn't want these things to be looked at and overruled by the Supreme Court so he sought to "pack" the supreme court with his allies who would allow all of his unconstitutional legislation to remain law.
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Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoIn the year of 1937, Roosevelt tried to put in place many innovative and reforming programs in order to get the country out of the Depression.
At that time the prevailing opinion on governments taking actions that were more like actions a private business would take was that it was most likely unconstitutional. Roosevelt had several of his projects declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He felt there were too many old men on the court and that they could not get with modern times.
In order to get more justices on the Supreme Court so he would have more justices voting for his plans, he proposed the so-called "Court-Packing" plan. Under the Constitution, Supreme Court justices could not be removed for disagreeing with the president. Nor did they have a mandatory retirement age. So the "old men" could not be displaced. His plan called for adding one new justice for every one that turned 70 years old. Thus the number of justices could change from the usual 9 to some larger number (as many as 15).
The US Constitution does not require only 9 justices. It simply creates the Supreme Court. Congress decides how many justices it shall have. There was opposition to the plan but one of the old men died and one retired so Roosevelt was able to replace them with younger justices who would vote to uphold his projects and the court-packing plan was forgotten.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoFDR packed supreme court with judges who were sympathetic to his New Deal because his New Deal allowed Congress to begin spending government money and he needed people who supported his idea of "Keynesian economics" or the tax and spend policy which allowed the government to spend beyond its means.
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Wiki User
∙ 9y agoThe court declared some his New Deal program unconstitutional and so disallowed them. Roosevelt had the idea of adding some new justices which he would appoint, to the court and so get a more favorable opinion from the court.
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What was Roosevelt's major political failure?
His plan to expand the Supreme Court His plan to replace Supreme Court justices His plan to pack the courts.
Do you agree with Congress' decision to stop President Roosevelt's court-packing bill?
Yes. President Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court represented an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers, and would have given him almost dictatorial control over the federal government.
Who tried to pack the Supreme Court by increasing the number of justices?
Franklin Roosevelt!! JM #14 :)
Which president threatened to pack the Supreme Court after it ruled against some of his policies?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
What did Franklin Roosevelt attempt to do with court parking?
Franklin Roosevelt attempted to "pack" the Supreme Court by proposing a plan to add more justices to it. He was frustrated with the Court's rulings on his New Deal policies and wanted to increase the number of justices to tilt the balance in his favor. However, his effort to expand the Court was ultimately unsuccessful.
FDR was not successful in his efforts to the Supreme Court.?
Franklin D Roosevelt was not successful in his efforts to impose new taxes on corporate savings in 1936. It was rejected by Congress. His attempt to win the US Senate seat for New York in 1914 failed too.
When President Franklin D Roosevelt introduced legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court he?
He could only propose legislation to pack the court. By doing so, he was trying to upset the balance of power and he also angered many people who had been strong supporters by this blatant attempt.
Why was president Franklin d Roosevelt's proposal to add additional justices to the supreme court seen by his opponents as a threat?
Although he presented it as a means to lighten the load on the generally elderly justices, it was widely seen as a transparent attempt to "pack" the court with justices who would support his New Deal programs. Prior to his proposal to add justices to the court, the Supreme Court had struck down several of his programs as unconstitutional, which greatly frustrated FDR. His opponents were quick to seize on his misstep to accuse him of trying to steamroll the court and get around the "checks and balances" provided by the independent Supreme Court.
Who disagreed with President Roosevelt's plan to pack the US Supreme Court?
Virtually everyone. President Roosevelt's plan was unpopular with the public, members of the Republican party, and even most members of his own Democratic party. The Supreme Court undoubtedly disagreed (although a large portion of the idea originated with one of the justices before he joined the US Supreme Court). Congress disagreed; the Senate Judiciary Committee stripped the court-packing plan from the proposed legislation.
What change did president Roosevelt want to make to the court?
President Franklin Roosevelt tried to expand the Supreme Court to include an additional 15 judges. This was called "court packing," since he was trying to "pack" the court with his favorite judges. It didn't pass.
Which president tried to pack the supreme court in 1930?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt attempted to "pack" the Supreme Court in 1937, not 1930. His idea was to increase the number of justices, and appoint his own people to fill all of the new vacancies. While technically legal, most people thought it was bad form, and the idea was never implemented. And the advent of the European war in 1939 (which was obviously coming even in 1936) calmed down a lot of the political turmoil within the US as the '30s came to a close.
What was President Roosevelt unsuccessful in changing about the Supreme Court?
FDR was unsuccessful in his efforts to "pack" the Supreme Court. He wanted the power to name another justice to the Court for every justice that was 70 years old or turned 70 in the future. Although Congress has the power to change the number of justices on the Court, it did not go along with FDR on this plan.
