Washington — President Biden Long-awaited reforms to the U.S. Supreme CourtThe president has called on Congress to impose term limits and ethics rules for the nine justices on the Supreme Court, and is also pressuring lawmakers to ratify a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity.
The White House outlined Biden's court proposal on Monday, but with just 99 days until Election Day, it is seen as having little chance of being approved by a closely divided Congress.
Still, Democrats hope it will help narrow the focus for voters as they consider their electoral choices. Tough electionDemocratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is positioning her race against former Republican President Donald Trump as a “choice between freedom and chaos.”
The White House is trying to capitalize on growing anger among Democrats over the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, ruling to overturn the landmark case. Right to Abortion and federal regulatory powers that have existed for decades.
Liberals have also expressed concern that revelations of questionable ties and decisions by some of the court's conservative members are undermining the court's impartiality.
“I have great respect for our institutions and the separation of powers,” Biden argued in an op-ed published in The Washington Post on Monday. “What is happening now is not normal and undermines public confidence in the Supreme Court's decisions, including those that affect individual liberties. We are now in a crisis.”
“That's why, at a time of growing threats to America's democratic institutions, I am calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability in the courts and our democracy.”
“I served as a senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. As a senator, vice president and president, I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations than anyone living today. I have great respect for our American institution and the separation of powers,” Biden said.
The president was scheduled to discuss the proposal later Monday during a speech marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.
Biden wants to end lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. He argues that Congress should pass a law that would require a sitting president to appoint Supreme Court justices every two years, with each justice serving for 18 years. Term limits would ensure regular rotation of Supreme Court justices and provide some predictability to the nomination process, he argues.
He also wants Congress to pass a bill establishing an ethics code for judges that would require them to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and avoid cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.
Biden also wants Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's recent landmark immunity ruling that found former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.
The ruling extends a stay of a Washington criminal case charging Trump with plotting to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat, effectively ending any chance he could be tried before the November election.
The last time Congress ratified a constitutional amendment was 32 years ago. The 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, states that Congress can pass legislation to change the pay of House members and senators, but such changes cannot take effect until the next House election in November.
President Trump has denounced the court reforms as a desperate attempt by Democrats to “control the courts.”
“Democrats are trying to interfere in our presidential election and destroy our justice system by attacking their political opponents, the state of Maine, and the Supreme Court. We must fight for fair and independent courts and protect our country,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site earlier this month.
Questions are growing about ethics at the Supreme Court following revelations about some of its justices. Clarence Thomas received lavish trips from Republican megadonors.
Judge Samuel Alito rejected calls to recuse himself from the Supreme Court case. The trial of Trump and the Jan. 6 defendants came despite uproar over a provocative flag that was flown at Trump's home and that some saw as suggesting sympathy for those accused of storming the U.S. Capitol to keep Trump in power – Justice Alito said it was his wife who put the flag up.
At the time, Trump praised Alito on social media sites for “showing intelligence, courage and 'grit'” in refusing to resign. “That's the kind of courage every judge, justice and leader in our nation should have.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama-era appointee, has faced intense scrutiny after it emerged that her staff frequently encouraged public institutions that hosted her to buy her memoirs and children's books.
Democrats say Biden's efforts will help shine a bright light on recent Supreme Court decisions, such as a 2022 ruling by a conservative-majority court that includes three justices appointed by Trump, that stripped women of their constitutional protections to have an abortion.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in an interview on CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday that Biden's push for reforms is aimed at reminding Americans that “the Supreme Court will be on the ballot in November.”
She added: “This is reason enough to vote for Kamala Harris and vote for Democrats in both the Senate and the House.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina countered that Democrats hadn't complained that the liberal-leaning Supreme Court was “issuing opinion after opinion that was in their favor.”
“It was only when we restored constitutional balance from a conservative court that the court became a threat to the country,” Graham said. He spoke on CBS News' “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “The threat to this country is an out-of-control liberal court that, based on the decisions of its nine justices, issues decisions that govern essentially every aspect of American life.”
The announcement marks a notable step forward for Biden, who as a candidate was cautious about calling for reform of the Supreme Court, but during his presidency he has become increasingly vocal about what he believes to be the court's abandonment of mainstream constitutional interpretation.
Last week, in an Oval Office speech, the president announced he would push through reform of the Supreme Court in his final months in office, calling it “critical to our democracy.”
Harris had signaled her openness to discussing expanding the nine-member Supreme Court when she lost the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. The proposal released Monday did not include such an effort, and Biden, the nominee, has expressed skepticism.
Vice presidential candidate Harris notably avoided questions about her previous positions on the issue during a debate with Vice President Mike Pence in October 2020.
Harris' campaign and aides did not respond to questions about her involvement in developing Biden's proposal or whether she would pursue other court reform efforts if elected.
“The President and Vice President Harris look forward to working with Congress to empower the American people to prevent abuses of presidential power, restore confidence in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of our democracy,” the White House said in a statement.
