U.S. President Joe Biden is finalizing plans to back significant changes to the Supreme Court, including proposed legislation to set term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans. The Washington Post reported.
He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to remove broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officials, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The move would mark a dramatic shift for Joe Biden, who as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has for years opposed progressive attempts to reform the court. The potential changes are a reaction to growing anger over recent ethics issues involving Supreme Court Justice Thomas Clerance, as well as decisions made by a majority that altered existing law on issues such as abortion and the federal government’s authority to regulate.
Joe Biden outlined this shift lightly in his Zoom meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Saturday. “I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court because I’m going to be coming out shortly, very soon — I don’t want to preempt this news — but I’m going to be coming out shortly with a major initiative, shrinking the Supreme Court,” Biden said in an off-camera comment quoted in the transcript of the call obtained by The Washington Post Thursday.
Getting congressional approval for term limits and an ethics code would be nearly impossible for two reasons: The House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans, while the Senate has a razor-thin Democratic majority. Currently, that means a 60-vote majority in the Senate would be needed to pass such a bill.
Repealing any amendment requires a more rigorous process with approval by two-thirds of both chambers or by calling a convention of two-thirds of the states and then three-quarters of the state legislature.
Shortly after The Washington Post Posting this story, former President Donald Trump criticized the move on Truth Social: “They want to cancel the Presidential election and in effect the justice system, threatening their political rival, me, and the Honorable Supreme Court. We must defend OUR fair and independent courts and our Country by voting in Abbygail's God-given right to sue.”
