Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Monday floated the possibility of Supreme Court justices being rotated off the bench and bounced from court to court should he be elected president.
During a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday night, the former veep announced his plan to create a bipartisan commission to propose changes to the Supreme Court if he triumphs on Election Day.
Just hours before the expected Monday evening confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s third conservative nominee to the High Court, Biden was asked if he was open to term limits for justices.
“It’s a lifetime appointment, I’m not going to attempt to change that at all,” Biden said at a campaign stop in Chester, Penn.
But he added, “There is some literature among constitutional scholars about the possibility of going from one court to another court, not just always staying the whole time in the Supreme Court.”
The 77-year-old candidate assured reporters he had made “no judgement” and said of his proposed commission: “They’re just a group of serious constitutional scholars who have a number of ideas how we should proceed from this point on.”
He was not pressed for further clarification on that shifting judges comment.
“That’s what we’re going to be doing. We’re going to give them 180 days, God willing if I’m elected, from the time I’m sworn in, to be able to make such a recommendation.”
The Democratic nominee has been under pressure to clarify his stance on expanding the number of Supreme Court justices, a process known as “court packing,” but has repeatedly punted on the issue during interviews.
At a solo town hall event held last week, Biden signaled that he’s “not a fan” of court packing, but did not explicitly rule it out, instead vowing to put forth a more concrete position before the election.