On Monday, President Biden unveiled his proposal for Supreme Court reform in a Washington Post op-ed, calling for major changes to the court, including term limits for justices and an enforceable code of ethics.
“What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms,” Biden wrote. “We now stand in a breach.”
President Biden’s proposed code of ethics would subject Supreme Court justices to outside enforcement, allowing for Democrat-appointed lower-court judges to investigate Justices for ethics violations. Biden is scheduled to speak at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas on Friday and is expected to argue that these changes are needed to restore Americans’ faith in the Supreme Court.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board alarmed the move as an “invitation for partisans to besiege the Court with complaints, however trivial.”
Alabama’s elected officials categorically denounced Biden and Harris’ desire to pack the court. On the federal level, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville accused the President and Vice President of attempting to “rewrite the rules” and Sen. Katie Britt condemned the proposal as a “radical escalation” of partisan involvement in the judiciary.
“Disliking a few of the Supreme Court’s opinions is far from grounds to dismantle an institution foundational to our constitutional system of checks and balances,” said Britt.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has long made clear it wants to silence the voices of Justices who are faithful to the text of the Constitution and its original meaning. This week’s announcement is a long-anticipated, radical escalation by President Biden and VP Harris to end the Supreme Court’s ability to serve as an independent check on the Executive branch and Congress.”
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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said that powerful Democrats “hate our constitution for getting in the way” of imposing its “ruinous” agenda.”
Biden & Harris want to overhaul the US Supreme Court because we finally have justices who interpret the law rather than take marching orders from the left. This Admin wants all 3 branches to share a singular, ruinous agenda and they hate our Constitution for getting in the way. pic.twitter.com/cycrHUuBOp
— Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) July 29, 2024
The proposal from Biden comes after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision that granted former President Donald Trump immunity for official acts as President of the United States.
Establishing term limits and an ethics code would require congressional approval with a 60-vote threshold to overcome an inevitable filibuster. Creating a constitutional amendment would prove to be more difficult, needing two-thirds support from both chambers of Congress or a convention called by two-thirds of the states, including the approval of three-fourths of state legislatures.
President Biden is endorsing an 18-year term limit on Supreme Court Justices despite the Constitution giving them life tenure. Supreme Court Justices currently have a code of conduct that is similar to the judicial code, without a demand for partisan enforcement.
Grant Burdette is a contributing writer for Yellowhammer News.
