Biden’s Tailspin Calling for Radical Reform for Supreme Court
The outgoing US president proposed term limits and a code of ethics for judges. Donald Trump on the attack: “Democrats are trying to interfere in the presidential election and destroy our justice system by attacking their political opponent”
US President Joe Biden has unveiled a proposal for fundamental reform of the Supreme Court, asking Congress to “set term limits” and develop “a code of ethics” applicable to the Court’s nine justices. He also asked lawmakers to ratify a constitutional amendment that would “significantly limit presidential immunity.”
“I have great respect for our institutions and the separation of powers,” Biden wrote in an article published by the Washington Post on Monday, July 29. “What is happening now,” the president emphasized, “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.”
In his message, Biden cited the fact that the US Supreme Court is “dominated” by a conservative majority of six justices (three of whom were appointed by Donald Trump during his 2016-2020 presidency) versus three Democrats who “recently issued opinions that, among other things, overturned key decisions on abortion rights and federal regulatory powers that have remained in effect for decades.”
Biden’s proposal seems to have little chance of approval by a very divided Congress, especially just over three months before the election, and that is key to understanding the White House’s attacks on the United States judiciary, which some media outlets immediately compared to “a tailspin of a mortally wounded scorpion.”
Moreover, according to the American press, “Democrats hope that Biden’s proposal will help voters focus on the ‘right’ choices that need to be made in such a crucial election.”
Kamala Harris, vice president and most likely candidate for the Democratic nomination at the August 19-22 convention in Chicago, endorsed Biden’s proposal: “The fairness of the Supreme Court has been called into question by recent decisions,” Harris stated, saying the proposed reforms “will help restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure that no one is above the law.”
And that’s because Biden has proposed, among other things, to “abolish lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court,” suggesting that Congress “pass legislation establishing a system in which a sitting president nominates a justice every two years to serve 18 years on the Court.”
Trump sharply criticized Biden’s proposed reform. “Democrats are trying to interfere in the presidential election and destroy our justice system by attacking their political opponent, me, and our esteemed Supreme Court. We must fight for our fair and independent courts and protect our country,” Trump wrote in his Truth social media account.