I appreciate that the Republicans are now trying to emphasize that filling vacancies does not equal "court packing" - but they were not always so careful with words. Back in 2013, this is precisely what some accused President Obama of doing when he filled 3 DC Circuit vacancies.
159 CONG. REC. 16,594 (2013) (statement of @JohnCornyn) (“I think the evidence is overwhelming that what the President is trying to do by nominating these unneeded judges to [the D.C. Circuit], the second most powerful court in the Nation, is he is trying to pack the court...").
@LindseyGrahamSC also referred to filling the D.C. Circuit seats as "court packing," later saying that he told Harry Reid and President Obama that "the consequence of changing the rules in the Senate to pack the court will come back to haunt them.” perma.cc/6REN-PYQL%5D
@TomCottonAR went so far as to introduce the "Stop Court-Packing Act" (H.R. 2239, 113th Cong. (2013)), which, almost ironically, was meant to unpack the D.C. Circuit by reducing the court to 8 judges - to prevent President Obama from filling the vacancies.
They are right to say that words matter. But it also matters that they tried to use those same words in the past for their own political gain.
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