Washington — President Biden is considering a series of proposals to reform the Supreme Court, including measures to establish term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code, CBS News has learned.
Any plan would require congressional approval. The Washington Post was first to report that Mr. Biden expected changes to the Supreme Court.
The president revealed in a call with the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Saturday that he is working with experts on proposals to reform the nation’s highest court that are expected to be announced soon, a source familiar with the call confirmed to CBS News. Mr. Biden did not tell the group what his plans were, but his willingness to engage on the issue marks a shift for the president, who led the Judiciary Committee while serving in the Senate.
“It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that Trump is literally an existential threat, an existential threat to the very Constitution of the democracy that we say we care about,” Biden told progressive lawmakers. “And I mean, if this guy wins, he’s not going to be, and now, especially with this Supreme Court giving him the kind of scope of — I don’t need to get into the Supreme Court right now — anyway, but I need your help. I need your advice, and I want to make sure that we have a closer working relationship, because we’re all in this together.”
The president faced pressure from liberal groups during the 2020 election to endorse Supreme Court reforms, including adding more seats to the current nine. Mr. Biden has refused to support so-called “court-packing,” opting instead to created a commission to consider proposals to amend the High Court, which approved and submitted its final report will be submitted to it in December 2021.
The commission did not recommend structural changes, but it did endorse adopting an ethics code for Supreme Court justices. On the issue of term limits, the bipartisan panel considered 12- and 18-year terms, but warned that any law imposing such limits would likely be challenged in federal court.
Mr. Biden has not been addressed publicly the commission’s findings, even as Democrats in Congress have called for a legislative response to ethics problems at the Supreme Court. adopted his own The government adopted a code of conduct in November amid pressure to enact ethics rules, but it does not contain an enforcement mechanism.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as it issued a series of rulings important decisions to complete his term. These decisions include reverse a decision taken 40 years ago to restrict federal regulatory power, invalidate the Trump-era ban on bump stock devices for semi-automatic rifles, and find that former presidents are right to immunity federal prosecution for official acts performed in the exercise of his duties.
Two years ago, the High Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortionand last year he rejected positive discrimination for higher education.
The historic decision on presidential immunity has important ramifications for the case brought against former President Donald Trump by special counsel Jack Smith and further delays the start of a criminal trial in Washington, D.C. The former president has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges.
Mr Biden criticised the move, saying it means “any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law”.
The decisions were made in a context one year investigation Senate Democrats are investigating the Supreme Court’s ethics practices, launched after the news outlet ProPublica revealed that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted a luxury trip from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow and failed to disclose the trips on his annual financial disclosure forms.
Thomas said he and Crow had been friends for more than two decades and that the judge did not believe he was required to report the trip under the guidelines governing personal hospitality. He pledged to comply with new rules put in place by the Judicial Conference last year and additional trips listed provided by Crow on its latest disclosure forms.
Justice Samuel Alito was also critical Capitol Democrats have flown flags outside his Virginia residence and his New Jersey vacation home in recent years. The first, an upside-down American flag, was flown outside Alito’s Virginia home in January 2021, and the second, an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, was flown outside his New Jersey residence in the summer of 2023.
Both types of flags were carried by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, but Alito said he was not involved in the displays outside his homes. Instead, Justice told congressional Democrats In May, his wife flew both flags, and neither of them was aware of the meanings that had been attributed to them in recent years.
However, the revelations about Alito and Thomas, coupled with the Supreme Court’s decisions on politically sensitive issues, have increased criticism of the court. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced articles of impeachment against the two conservative justices last week, even though they are almost certain to die in the Republican-led House.
Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden have each Attorney General Merrick Garland asked to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether Thomas violated federal tax or ethics laws when he accepted travel and lodging from Crow.
Progressive groups also hope use the Supreme Court to motivate voters to support Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in November, and are investing millions of dollars in campaigns aimed at educating voters about the impact the next president will have on the Supreme Court.
The effort is aimed not only at helping Democrats keep the White House, but also at maintaining control of the Senate and flipping the Republican-led House of Representatives. Full Democratic control could pave the way for Congress to pass court reform proposals. The legislation requires 60 votes to pass in the Senate.
One such bill, introduced by Democratic Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia, would impose 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices and establish appointments in the first and third years following a presidential election. Sitting justices would be required to take senior status, a form of semi-retirement, based on their seniority as new justices join the court. Under the proposal, Thomas, appointed in 1991, and Chief Justice John Roberts, confirmed in 2005, would be the first and second members required to retire.
Nancy Cordes
