The Supreme Court initially struck down several New Deal programs as unconstitutional, leading President Roosevelt to propose:

Question

Accepted Answer

A plan to expand the Supreme Court by adding additional justices sympathetic to the New Deal. In 1937, frustrated by the Supreme Court's invalidation of key New Deal programs like the National Industrial Recovery Act (Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States) and the Agricultural Adjustment Act (United States v. Butler), Roosevelt proposed the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill, popularly known as the "court-packing plan." It would have allowed the president to appoint an additional justice for every sitting justice over age 70, potentially increasing the Court from 9 to 15 members. The plan was widely criticized as an attack on judicial independence.

"A constitutional amendment explicitly granting the federal..." was not pursued; Roosevelt chose to work within the existing constitutional framework rather than seek an amendment, which would have been slower and more uncertain. "The impeachment of the Chief Justice for obstructing the..." is incorrect because Roosevelt never sought to impeach any justice; the constitutional standard for impeachment requires "high crimes and misdemeanors," not policy disagreements. "The transfer of judicial review power from the Supreme..." describes a radical restructuring of the separation of powers that Roosevelt never proposed.

Although Congress rejected the court-packing plan, Roosevelt arguably achieved his goal anyway. Justice Owen Roberts began voting to uphold New Deal legislation in what became known as "the switch in time that saved nine," and retirements soon allowed Roosevelt to appoint friendly justices. The episode demonstrated the limits of presidential power over the judiciary but also showed that political pressure can influence judicial behavior. Roosevelt's eight eventual Supreme Court appointments ensured that the constitutional framework supporting federal economic regulation remained firmly in place.

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