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President Joe Biden is set to propose a major overhaul of the Supreme Court including term limits for justices and an enforceable code of ethics, at a time when the right-leaning institution has been plagued by scandals, controversial rulings, and concerns that the justices’ personal politics are holding too much sway.
Sources toldThe Washington Post that the president is considering calling for a new constitutional amendment that would eliminate sweeping immunity for presidents and other officeholders in the wake of the ruling connected to Donald Trump’s federal election interference case.
Biden unveiled his plans during a Zoom call with the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Saturday.
“I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court… I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court,” Biden told the House lawmakers, according to a transcript of the call obtained by The Post.
The president has been working on the proposal with constitutional scholars for the last three months and is currently finalizing plans ahead of an announcement in the coming weeks, Biden said.
Trump – who has claimed his goal for America is “unity” after he survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally on Saturday – quickly responded to the report with a scathing post on Truth Social, where he accused Democrats of “illegal and unConstitutional attack on our SACRED United States Supreme Court”.
“The Radical Left Democrats are desperately trying to “Play the Ref” by calling for an illegal and unConstitutional attack on our SACRED United States Supreme Court. The reason that these Communists are so despondent is that their unLawful Witch Hunts are failing everywhere,” he posted.
“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. We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country. MAGA2024!”
The proposed shake-up of the nation’s highest court comes off the back of a series of controversial rulings – rulings that have upended decades of legal precedent.
In a historic ruling in 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, wiping out the constitutional right of Americans to abortion care.
Then this term, the court ruled that presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for “official actions” – but not for “unofficial actions.”
That bombshell ruling, which came in response to Trump’s efforts to toss the charges in his federal election interference case, has been widely condemned by scholars as well as the liberal justices on the court.
“The president is now a king above the law,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her dissent.
Meanwhile, questions have been growing around potential conflicts of interest in some of the cases justices are hearing.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both refused to recus themselves from two major cases involving the January 6 Capitol riot – the immunity case and a case involving obstruction charges against a convicted rioter – despite calls for them to do so.
Alito, it emerged, had flown the same flags seen outside the Capitol on January 6 outside his homes in Virginia and New Jersey in the days after the insurrection.
Thomas, meanwhile, has accepted millions of dollars in gifts from individuals with business before the court, investigations have revealed.
His wife Ginny Thomas was also involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Trump’s favor, with texts revealing she urged Arizona officials to reverse Biden’s win in the state.
With scandals growing, the Supreme Court’s approval rating has plunged in recent years, with a Marquette University poll released in May 2024 finding that a staggering 61 per cent of Americans now disapprove of the job the court is doing.
In the past, Biden has resisted calls to bring about changes to the court, including calls to pack the court to even out the liberal to conservative-justice ratio.
The court is currently heavily skewed 6-3 conservative to liberal justices and three of those conservative justices were nominated by Trump. The appointment of Amy Coney Barrett was especially contentious, coming in the waning days of Trump’s presidency.
While packing the court does not appear to be part of his proposed reform, Biden’s desire to take some action comes as he desperately tries to win back confidence from his own party in the wake of his disastrous debate performance last month.
Since then, Democratic donors, lawmakers and famous figures have publicly called for him to step aside to allow another Democratic candidate to top the ticket.
Biden, however, is showing no signs of caving to the pressure and is ramping up his interviews and campaign appearances.
