Biden Proposes Reforms to Overhaul the Supreme Court

In response to recent Supreme Court decisions, President Joe Biden has proposed landmark reforms, which he claims will improve the court’s ethics and transparency.  Critics argue this is another attempt to inject politics into the courtroom and increase control over...

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In response to recent Supreme Court decisions, President Joe Biden has proposed landmark reforms, which he claims will improve the court’s ethics and transparency. 

Critics argue this is another attempt to inject politics into the courtroom and increase control over the judiciary by fundamentally changing the Constitution. (READ MORE: Kamala’s Useful Idiots)

Biden’s proposed reforms include:

1. No Immunity for Former Presidents: Biden has called for a constitutional amendment to overturn the recent ruling on presidential immunity 
2. Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices: He advocates for an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices, with regular appointments every two years. 
3. Binding Code of Conduct: Biden wrote “Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves” from cases with conflicts of interest.

According to Biden, urgent reform is needed because the Supreme Court has not been acting “normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms.” 

In a statement released by the White House, Biden argued:

In recent years, the Supreme Court has overturned long-established legal precedents protecting fundamental rights. This Court has gutted civil rights protections, taken away a woman’s right to choose, and now granted Presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office.

The “No One Is Above the Law Amendment,” would strip presidents of their criminal immunity under the Constitution. This would make it possible for any official actions taken by a sitting president to result in a federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or punishment.

Biden’s Reforms To the Supreme Court Threaten Judicial Independence

Former President Donald Trump is currently appealing a federal criminal conviction in New York. His lawyers argued the presidential immunity clause makes evidence that led to Trump’s conviction inadmissible. This amendment would make Trump’s chances of successfully appealing that conviction very unlikely. (READ MORE: Kamala Harris and the Too-Late Solution)

Expressing more explicit concern towards Trump, Biden wrote “If a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power — like we saw on Jan. 6, 2021 — there may be no legal consequences.”

Biden invoked the Founding Fathers and argued that “[t]his nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one.”

Biden also blatantly questioned “the fairness and independence” of certain justices and their ability to serve on the court by referencing “recent ethics scandals.”  

However, Republicans claim that Biden’s proposed reforms would severely threaten judicial independence. 

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) argued: 

The whole point of the independent judiciary is to stand above the partisan fray and the whims of the moment…. Biden’s new plans for the Court, by contrast, would make the judiciary more political, not less, and would undermine everything it stands for.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) stated that “[e]ver since the Supreme Court started ruling in favor of the Constitution, Biden & Harris have been calling to ‘reform’ SCOTUS… When the Left doesn’t get their way, they try to change the rules.” 

When the Left doesn’t get their way, they try to change the rules.

Note to Democrats — you can’t throw out the Constitution because you don’t agree with the results. https://t.co/OTsP2DQLZN

— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 29, 2024

Democrats Have a History of Trying to Reform the Court

This is not the first time major reforms to the Supreme Court have been suggested by Democrats. In early 2019, then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she “would not rule out expanding the Supreme Court if elected president.” 

Biden argues that these reforms are necessary to restore the public’s confidence in the Supreme Court, which he believes has been compromised by recent decisions and ethical concerns. (READ MORE: Will the Media Makeover of Harris Work?)

However, critics warn that such changes could fundamentally undermine judicial independence and politicize the court, challenging the very principles upon which the U.S. judicial system was founded.

Ahead of the 2024 election, the stakes are higher than ever. The future of the Supreme Court and its role in American democracy hangs in the balance.

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