Harris Co-Proposed Radical Biden Plan To Shake Up Supreme Court
Republicans criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris's long-term proposal on Monday to reshape the Supreme Court, labeling it as a way to politicize the judicial system.
“President Biden and I are calling on Congress to pass important reforms – from imposing term limits for Justices’ active service, to requiring Justices to comply with binding ethics rules just like every other federal judge. These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law,” Harris stated.
The proposals, as reported by the New York Post, include an 18-year term limit and requirements for justices to disclose gifts, avoid political activity, and recuse themselves over conflicts of interest. They also suggest a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s recent decision granting presidents presumed immunity for their core functions.
Entering her second week as the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, Harris acknowledged her contribution to the plan’s formulation but did not host any public events to promote it.
“I’ve made clear how I feel about Kamala and she’s been an incredible partner to me and a champion of surprise throughout her career,” Biden mentioned in his speech.
He added, “And she’ll continue to be an inspiring leader and project the very idea of America — the very idea that we’re all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.”
Democrats are hoping that the proposal will help focus voters' attention as they consider their options in a close election. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to be the Democratic nominee, has portrayed her battle against Republican former President Donald Trump as “a choice between freedom and chaos,” and claimed that recent rulings have raised questions about the court’s impartiality.
With a 6-3 conservative majority on the court, the White House aims to leverage the growing anger among Democrats over decisions that reversed long-standing precedents on federal regulatory authority and abortion rights.
Liberals have also expressed concern over disclosures about the decisions and relationships of some conservative justices, which they claim undermine their impartiality, according to the Associated Press.
“I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers. What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach,” Biden argued in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday.
Harris later stated that the American people needed to trust a Supreme Court free of ethics scandals and decisions that disregard established precedent.
She reiterated that the proposed reforms “will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law.”
Biden is advocating for the elimination of lifetime appointments to the judiciary. He believes that Congress should pass legislation establishing a system in which the sitting president appoints a justice every two years to serve an eighteen-year term.
He contends that term limits would stabilize the nomination process and ensure regular changes in court membership. Additionally, he wants Congress to enact laws creating an ethical code for judges, requiring them to declare gifts, abstain from public politics, and withdraw from cases involving financial or other conflicts of interest.
Biden is also urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s recent landmark immunity decision, which held that former presidents are immune from prosecution in most cases. This ruling has significantly reduced the chances of the former president facing trial before the November election, delaying the Washington criminal case against Trump concerning his actions following the 2020 presidential election loss.
Term limits would affect the first three conservative justices. Justice Clarence Thomas has served for almost 33 years, Justice Samuel Alito for eighteen years, and Chief Justice John Roberts for nineteen.
Trump has criticized the judicial reform as a desperate attempt by Democrats to “Play the Ref.”
“The Democrats are attempting to interfere in the Presidential Election, and destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court. We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site this month.
The Biden campaign will highlight recent high court rulings, such as the 2022 decision by the conservative majority court, including three judges appointed by Trump, that eliminated women’s constitutional rights to an abortion.
Biden, who was initially cautious about calls for high court change as a candidate, has become more vocal during his administration, expressing his view that the court has deviated from traditional constitutional interpretation. Last week, he announced during an Oval Office speech his intention to pursue Supreme Court reform in his final months in office, calling it “critical to our democracy.”