Biden plans to propose Supreme Court reforms, including term limits

Justin Sink | (TNS) Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is planning to unveil proposals that could dramatically reshape the Supreme Court, including term limits on justices who now sit on the court for life, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.

The effort represents a substantial shift for a president who has long resisted urging from many people in his party to support reforms to the high court, and comes as he is scraping for political support to bolster his beleaguered presidential campaign.

The president has also discussed an enforceable ethics code for justices and a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s recent decision offering broad immunity to presidents for official actions, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the effort.

Any significant changes would likely face a perilous path to becoming law. Congress is not expected to take up major legislation before November’s election, where public opinion polls favor Biden’s Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. If the president were reelected, he’d have to overcome almost certain opposition from congressional Republicans, who have viewed the Supreme Court’s latest rightward turn as a major political victory.

The White House has not consulted with lawmakers on the House or Senate Judiciary Committees about the plans, according to a person familiar with the outreach. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the president’s plans.

“I’m not going to get ahead of the president, so I don’t have anything to share at this time,” she said.

But Biden hinted at the coming proposal in a call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as he was looking to shore up political support following his disastrous presidential debate on June 27.

Liberal members of the Democratic caucus have increasingly sought to bring dramatic change to the Supreme Court after its conservative majority has delivered a series of Republican policy priorities. At the same time, some justices have come under scrutiny for accepting high-dollar gifts from conservative donors and activists.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that had guaranteed federal abortion rights for almost half a century. The high court also struck down Biden’s attempt to cancel student loan debt, and overturned affirmative action programs in college admissions.

Simultaneously, Justice Clarence Thomas has come under fire for failing to disclose expensive gifts and vacations from Republican donors.

In June, the court found that presidents could receive immunity for official acts, creating new complications for efforts to prosecute Trump in a series of criminal cases.

Biden said he believed the court had “made a terrible decision” in an interview Monday with NBC News. “They seem out of touch with what the founders intended,” he added.

Trump, in a statement to his social media platform on Tuesday, accused Democrats of attacking the Supreme Court with the proposed reforms.

“The reason that these Communists are so despondent is that their unLawful Witch Hunts are failing everywhere,” Trump wrote. “The Democrats are attempting to interfere in the Presidential Election, and destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court.”

Democratic efforts to push reform to the Supreme Court aren’t new. Many in the party called for changes after Senate Republicans blocked the nomination by President Barack Obama of Merrick Garland to the court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Biden created a presidential commission to study the Supreme Court early in his term, but the panel’s final report ultimately provided no recommendations and he did not endorse any legal reforms.

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