Former Vice President Kamala Harris used a Tuesday podcast interview to call for changes to the Supreme Court and Electoral College, and to say Congress should consider statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., if voters return Democrats to power in the House and Senate.
Speaking with host Keke Palmer on “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer,” Harris said she supports increasing the number of Supreme Court justices. She argued that a larger court could better uphold the Constitution’s principles. The interview material did not specify how many additional justices she would support or describe a proposed process for changing the court’s size.
Harris also said she favored pursuing changes to the Electoral College, arguing that the popular vote should carry weight. She raised statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as structural changes worth pursuing if residents there wanted it. Her remarks did not lay out a specific plan for altering the presidential election system.
Harris lost both the popular vote and Electoral College to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, according to the supplied report. She said during the interview that she remains undecided about a possible 2028 presidential campaign.
Y. David Scharf, chairman of Morrison Cohen LLP and head of its government strategies and controversies practice, criticized Harris’ proposals in comments to Fox News Digital. He said expanding the court could establish a “dangerous precedent,” and noted that nine justices have served since 1869. Scharf also invoked President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unsuccessful effort to expand the court, saying members of his own party opposed it. He cited a warning from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that court expansion could make the institution appear partisan.
On the Electoral College, Scharf said eliminating it would require a constitutional amendment rather than a simple congressional majority. He argued that Harris’ proposals might appeal to Democratic voters but could be harder to sell to independents and swing voters. Those assessments were Scharf’s views; the source does not report a response from Harris to his criticism.
Harris also focused on the upcoming midterm elections, saying that electing members of Congress willing to oppose certain policies could have immediate effects. She cited what she described as a $1 trillion Medicaid cut and the ending of research funding for issues such as fibroids, which she said had occurred under the rationale of opposing diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The supplied material does not independently detail those claims or provide a response from the administration.
Her comments came amid questions about her political standing and prospects for another presidential run. The source reported that Democratic advisers had expressed doubts about whether she had reinvented herself since the 2024 campaign. Politico’s account, as described in the material, was based on interviews with nearly 20 California Democratic donors and strategists.
Doug Herman, a strategist who worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, told Politico that Harris had not entered the political debate in a meaningful way. Former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges likewise said he saw little change in her approach. Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist and outside adviser to Harris, disputed that criticism in comments previously given to Fox News Digital. She argued that proposals including court expansion, lowering the voting age to 16, and statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico showed Harris had advanced new initiatives.
The supplied report also noted that Harris’ former running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, had recently warned Democrats of political consequences if they failed to deliver on promises after regaining power. No additional details of Walz’s remarks were included.
