Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is pushing legislation that would strip former President Donald Trump of the Supreme Court-granted immunity that protects him from criminal prosecution for “official acts.”
Accusing the Supreme Court of placing “a crown on Donald Trump’s head," Schumer said Monday that the proposed legislation will aim to classify Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election as “unofficial acts not subject to immunity.”
“We’re doing this because we believe in America no president should be free to overturn an election against the will of the people, no matter what the conservative justices may believe,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
The announcement came just a week after the Supreme Court's right-wing majority ruled 6-3 that the President is entitled to “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for acts related to their official duties. The decision left lower courts to decide whether Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which resulted in a mob storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were an "official act."
The ruling sparked outrage and disbelief amongst legal experts, media critics and watchdog groups across the country, many of which said the decision essentially places the president above the law.
The specifics of Schumer’s proposed bill are still to be determined and it could be difficult to pass in the Senate, NBC News reported. Schumer added that he and his colleagues are working on other proposals to “reassert Congress’s Article I authority to rein in the abuse of our federal judiciary.”
“Americans are tired, just tired of justices who think they are beyond accountability," Schumer said. "Now the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump v. The United States is just the finishing touch on one of the most destructive Supreme Court terms in modern history."
