President Joe Biden, during a Zoom call with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus over the weekend, suggested he is considering supporting major reforms to the Supreme Court following several rulings challenged by the left. Among the reforms Biden is considering backing are reportedly term limits for judges and ethics rules, including enforcement mechanisms.
“We're going to have to take a step back and make sure we're doing the right thing,” Biden reportedly told liberal lawmakers.
I need your help with the Supreme Court, because I will be announcing some big proposals very soon to limit the power of the Supreme Court. I don't want to announce them prematurely. … I've been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need your help.
“There will probably be two more appointments to the Supreme Court. There will probably be two more people who resign. I mean, there will be people who resign, people who retire,” Biden said, referring to a possible Trump presidency. “Just imagine, if Trump appoints two more people, what that would mean forever.”
Overturning the “immunity” ruling
Biden also told lawmakers on his left that he was considering pushing a constitutional amendment to overturn a recent “immunity ruling,” a July 1 ruling that said the president should expect qualified immunity when exercising “core” constitutional powers.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), who later introduced articles of impeachment against Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, called the immunity decision an “assault on American democracy.”
Florida District Judge Eileen Cannon cited Thomas' concurring opinion in her decision while dismissing the classified documents lawsuit against Donald Trump.
Left-leaning court watchers have long called for such reforms, but their voices have grown louder following recent court decisions, particularly the immunity ruling and the overturning of the Chevron case, which essentially allowed regulators to fill in the gaps when the law is unclear.
Term limits, in particular, have been a source of concern on the left since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death in 2020 and President Donald Trump's nomination of conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
What can Biden do?
But it's unclear how much influence Congress will have over the Supreme Court. Last summer, Justice Alito floated the possibility of new ethics rules for the court.
Congress did not create the Supreme Court; the Constitution did. I know this is a controversial statement, but I say it anyway. There is nothing in the Constitution that gives Congress the power to regulate the Supreme Court. Period.
When asked if the other justices shared his sentiments, Justice Alito emphasized that he was expressing his own opinion alone.
I don’t know if any of my colleagues have ever spoken publicly about this, so I don’t think I should say anything, but I think we’ve all thought about it…
If we are viewed as illegitimate, ignoring our decisions will become more acceptable and more common, and we could see a repeat of the massive resistance that occurred in the South after Brown.
Some argue that court reform is not just a good idea, but essential.
Reclaim the Courts Action Fund is a liberal group that argues Republicans “stole the Supreme Court to thwart progress and undermine democracy.”
Reforming our dysfunctional Supreme Court is essential not only to protecting the rights hard-won over the last century, but also to our future progress as a nation. While ethics rules and term limits alone cannot fully restore balance and independence, (Biden's) announcement marks a watershed moment in the fight to take back the Supreme Court.
Ultimately, Biden has far more to worry about than a sweeping reshaping of the Supreme Court, like whether he'll be able to serve out his term or even run in November's election, but his plans for the Supreme Court signal his radical intentions if he's elected to another term.
