Biden Assails Supreme Court for ‘Extremism’ in Reform Push (1)

President Joe Biden assailed the conservative majority of the Supreme Court over its recent rulings, calling for new binding ethics rules and term limits for justices — a sweeping proposal that would fundamentally alter the top US court.

“Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court’s decisions,” Biden said at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin on Monday, casting the changes as necessary to restore accountability to both the presidency and the court.

The president said in recent years the court had “undermined long established civil rights principles, and protections,” citing decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade’s abortion rights protections, affirmative action at universities and weaken enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.

He assailed the court’s ruling this year that presidents enjoy some immunity for official acts, in a case involving Republican nominee Donald Trump, calling it “a total affront to the basic expectations we have for those who wield the power in this nation.”

Biden’s plan, which faces a difficult path in Congress, also calls for a constitutional amendment to ensure that former presidents can be tried for crimes committed while in office. Biden’s focus on overhauling the Supreme Court comes as he faces less than six months left in the White House and as he weighs his political legacy.

Until recently, Biden resisted calls from some Democrats to seek reforms to the high court but previewed the new push during a speech in the Oval Office last week explaining his decision to not seek reelection.

Democrats have increasingly called for imposing limits on the Supreme Court after an ethics scandal and politically divisive rulings, including the conservative majority overturning Roe in 2022. However, lawmakers have seldom passed judicial reform laws in recent years and any changes would need support from the Republican-controlled House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called Biden’s plan “dead on arrival,” adding it “would tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.”

The president also linked the court’s actions to Project 2025, a conservative agenda being authored by allies of Trump, saying the former president and his supporters were “planning another onslaught, attacking civil rights in America.”

“It’s going nowhere,” Trump said about Biden’s proposal in an interview that aired Monday evening on Fox News with Laura Ingraham.

“They need 75%,” he added, referring to the requirement that amendments be ratified by three-fourths of the US states. “He can’t get it. He knows that too.”

Sweeping Plan

The constitutional amendment Biden is seeking would make clear a person who serves as president isn’t immune from any federal criminal indictment, trial or conviction, including prosecution for crimes committed while in office, according to the White House.

Biden also asked Congress to approve term limits, framing it as a move to ensure changes to the court’s membership in a regular fashion and to keep any one president from having outsize influence on the court’s makeup. Such a system would see a president appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the court. Biden’s proposal would impose term limits through legislation, though many constitutional scholars say it would take a constitutional amendment.

He also urged lawmakers to pass enforceable rules of conduct that require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from political activity and recuse themselves from cases presenting conflicts of interest — for them or spouses. Although the Supreme Court adopted a code of conduct for the first time in November, that approach lacks an enforcement mechanism and continues to let individual justices decide on their own whether to recuse from cases.

“The court is not self-policing,” Biden said.

A constitutional amendment would face a challenging path. The president doesn’t play any formal role in the amendment process.

Court Under Scrutiny

Still, the plan would represent the most far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s highest court, following a term with a number of landmark decisions — including one finding presidents could obtain immunity for official acts.

That ruling, which affected the 2024 presidential race by complicating efforts to prosecute Trump in criminal cases, drew outrage from the left.

The court’s conservative bench, bolstered by three appointees from Trump, has delivered the right a number of major victories in recent years.

Earlier: Behind Biden’s Call for Changes to US Supreme Court: QuickTake

The justices themselves have faced intense scrutiny. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas has come under criticism for accepting gifts and trips from Texas billionaire Harlan Crow that he didn’t initially disclose.

Fellow conservative Samuel Alito has been under fire for the actions of his wife, who flew flags at their home that were also displayed by Trump supporters attacking the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Alito rejected calls from Democratic lawmakers to step aside from Trump cases.

Delayed Trip

The Austin event to honor Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rights Act 60 years ago marked Biden’s first public event outside of Washington since he announced he would not seek reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. He originally planned to visit earlier this month but delayed his trip following the assassination attempt on Trump.

In an uncanny twist, Biden is visiting the library of the last US commander in chief to opt against seeking another term in office. Johnson in 1968 announced he would not accept his party’s nomination with Democrats weakened by divisions over the Vietnam War.

For Biden, helping elect Harris would be critical to protecting his legacy and in recent weeks the president had sought to shore up his standing with key blocs in the Democratic coalition.

A longtime US senator, whose tenure included stints as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Biden dismissed pressure from liberal groups in the past to embrace Supreme Court reforms.

(Updates with Trump comments in paragraphs 10-11)

--With assistance from Greg Stohr, Erik Wasson, Hadriana Lowenkron and Stephanie Lai.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;
Akayla Gardner in Washington at agardner81@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Justin Sink at jsink1@bloomberg.net

Meghashyam Mali, Laura Davison

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