On a September 24th some 237 years ago, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President George Washington, establishing the first Supreme Court of the United States.

It was initially comprised of six justices, who would serve until death or retirement. That same day, Washington nominated John Jay as Chief Justice, and five Associate Justices: John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson. All six were confirmed by the U.S. Senate two days later, on September 26th. The Court’s establishment had been codified by Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution just six months earlier. [“This Day in History,” History.com, September 24, 2026.]

Now, that is how you get things done.

According to the Constitution, the number of justices is set by Congress, and varied from time to time during the 19th century until finally settling in 1869 at a total of nine. [Id.]

The six men on that first bench would not recognize the Supreme Court of 2026. Today’s nine justices, like the original six, were sworn to uphold the Constitution, and to remain apolitical — the judiciary arm of the government, separate from the executive and legislative branches. Not a rubber stamp of the sitting president.

But there is a way to alleviate the problem with the present Court’s Trump-controlled, ultra-conservative, 6-3 majority: We can’t change them or their political leanings, but we can utilize the Constitutional authority of Congress to increase their number in order to create a more balanced ratio of conservative-to-liberal justices. And the way to do that is to elect, in just 40 days from now, Senators and Representatives who will dedicate themselves to restoring the checks and balances mandated by the Constitution, which have been ignored and overridden for far too long.

George Washington — the “Father of our Country” — would expect nothing less.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/24/26