Question

What was the goal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to add more justices to the Supreme Court?

a) To maintain the independence of the judicial branch
b) To reduce the power of the presidency
c) To ensure the Supreme Court aligned with his policies
d) To increase the number of federal judges overall

Answer 1

FDR's court-packing plan aimed to appoint new justices to ensure the Supreme Court would support his New Deal policies after facing opposition from the Court.

Step-by-step explanation:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to add more justices to the Supreme Court, often referred to as the "court-packing" scheme, was controversial and aimed at ensuring the Supreme Court would be more favorable to his New Deal policies. The plan proposed adding one new justice for each current justice over the age of seventy, which would have potentially allowed Roosevelt to appoint up to six new justices. The official reason given was to make the court more efficient and to provide assistance to the overworked justices, but the underlying goal was to ensure the Supreme Court aligned with his policies, particularly after the Court had declared several New Deal measures unconstitutional.