Biden and Harris debut plan to overhaul Supreme Court — with focus on limiting Trump’s powers
President Biden formally unveiled his planned overhaul of the Supreme Court on Monday — with a clear eye on limiting the powers of former President Donald Trump should he succeed him.
The commander-in-chief took the unusual step of unveiling his major planned policy steps in a newspaper op-ed, with the Washington Post helpfully telling readers: “The writer is president of the United States.”
Biden laid out three main changes to the court — which he said is “mired in a crisis of ethics” — including term limits and a binding code of conduct.
However, the main focus was the court’s recent decision to grant Trump broad immunity for any crimes committed in office.
“This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one,” Biden wrote.
“But the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on July 1 to grant presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office means there are virtually no limits on what a president can do.
Four Biden proposals to remake the Supreme Court and backed by Harris:
- The Supreme Court justices would be limited to 18 years on the bench.
- Presidents could only nominate one justice every two years.
- A new ethics code would require justices to disclose gifts, not engage in political activities and avoid conflicts of interest involving themselves or their spouses.
- A constitutional amendment would reverse the court’s ruling that presidents have immunity for their actions in office.
“The only limits will be those that are self-imposed by the person occupying the Oval Office.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president, endorsed the push. “Today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent,” she said.
Making clear he was alarmed at Trump returning to office, Biden wrote: “If a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power — like we saw on Jan. 6, 2021 — there may be no legal consequences.”
In addition to his so-called No One Is Above The Law Amendment, Biden proposed term limits for Supreme Court justices, advocating for the president to be able to appoint a new justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the high court.
Biden also called for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court, writing that the court’s current voluntary ethics code is “weak and self-enforced.”
“Justices should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct, and there is no reason for the Supreme Court to be exempt,” he wrote.
He claimed the “majority” of Americans support these reforms, which would help prevent the abuse of presidential powers.
“We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power. We can and must restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court. We can and must strengthen the guardrails of democracy,” Biden wrote.
Biden ended his op-ed: “In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule.”
