Analysis · Speech on a bill · beta

Jamie Raskin

Democrat on Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to Require That the Supreme Court of the United States Be Composed of Nine Justices 2026-09-02

188 words · 11 sentences · 14 clauses

Statement grade

Average 76 / 100

A score under 50 is red. Choose a measurement to see where it lost points and why; choose it again to clear.

Procedure 21%Claims 76%Positioning 3%

This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.

Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 9 wordsI yield myself such time as I may consume.Procedure Claims · 63 wordsThe floor leader offers a charming and completely self-defeating argument when he goes to the Roosevelt plan. FDR was a President, and Congress rejected his plan.¹ The gentleman acknowledges that Congress has changed the size of the Supreme Court seven different times, ²and we have also declined to change it several times. Now, he describes what Roosevelt wanted to do as Court packing. Positioning · 6 wordsThis is Court packing on steroids.PositioningNo reason given Claims · 53 wordsThe gentleman wants to say that this President happens to like the people on the Court right now, through all of the packing and stacking and gerrymandering that has taken place in the last few years, Hidden agencyand therefore we should freeze it, not just only for his own term but for all time. Procedure · 3 wordsThat is extraordinary.Procedure Claims · 27 wordsIn the meantime, they have not offered a single argument to explain why nine Justices should be the number that we constitutionalize and place in cement forever. Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 27 wordsI yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), who is the ranking member of the Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Subcommittee.³Procedure

At a glance

Lost points for

Switch Claims on to list the checkable claims here.

What the tags mean

Signal · 75

5 of 7 deductions are Signal

Signal checks whether every part makes a point, gives a reason, or asks for action. A low score means the speaker filled time with fluff, pleasantries, or attacks.

Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “I yield myself such time as I may consume.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Praise, blame or attack with no claim, reason or ask in it.What the tags mean “This is Court packing on steroids.”Positioning: praise, blame or attack. No claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “That is extraordinary.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “Johnson), who is the ranking member of the Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Subcommittee.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.

Relevance · 100

0 of 7 deductions are Relevance

Relevance checks whether the speaker stays on topic and answers the question asked. A low score means the speaker dodged the issue. Measured against the bill under debate.

Nothing lost points.

Reasoning · 53

1 of 7 deductions are Reasoning

Reasoning checks for sound logic and solid support for any conclusion. A low score means the speaker made unsupported leaps or used weak arguments.

A conclusion stated with no reason given for it.What the tags mean “This is Court packing on steroids.”The clause is a loaded characterisation; c6-c7 cite historical size changes and c10-c13 accuse the other side of freezing the number, none of which explains why fixing nine justices counts as packing.

Conclusions found · 1

Conclusion“This is Court packing on steroids.”

BecauseNo reason given

No reason given

Respect · no score

Not checked: graded before this measurement existed. Excluded from the average.

Respect checks whether the speaker argued with people’s positions and records rather than attacking the people: insults, mockery, or bad motives assigned to them. Criticism of what someone did, however strong, is not marked.

Clarity · 75

1 of 7 deductions are Clarity

Clarity checks for plain speaking, clear ownership of actions, and honest limits on certainty. A low score means vague promises or evasive language.

Wording that hides who did something, or who will.What the tags mean “the packing and stacking and gerrymandering that has taken place”The passive names actions but never who performed them.

Claims · 3

This list shows the factual statements you can check for yourself: the words as said, and the claim restated to stand on its own.

1“Congress rejected his plan”search
2“Congress has changed the size of the Supreme Court seven different times”search
3“the ranking member of the Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet Subcommittee”search

Analyzed on 2026-09-14