One of the main drivers of the pervasive feeling of hopelessness in American politics is the radical, hard-right Christofascist turn of the Supreme Court. Donald Trump drastically changed the court, so even with Trump out of office, his court is still abusing the American people and throwing out decades of civil liberties, reproductive rights, environmental protections and legal precedent. President Biden still has my support, but I’ve been disappointed by his lack of energy towards doing something, anything about the court. My guess is that he feels like if something can be done, it can only be done if he wins a second term and has Congressional support. But he should have been much more vocal this whole time so that low-information voters understand WTF is happening and why. Well, now it looks like President Biden is planning to run for reelection on making some dramatic changes to the court. Good.
President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans.
He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to make substantive changes to the high court. The potential changes come in response to growing outrage among his supporters about recent ethics scandals surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas and decisions by the new court majority that have changed legal precedent on issues including abortion and federal regulatory powers.
Biden previewed the shift in a Zoom call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
“I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court, because I’m about to come out — I don’t want to prematurely announce it — but I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court. … I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need some help,” Biden said, according to a transcript of the call obtained by The Washington Post.
Term limits and an ethics code would be subject to congressional approval, which would face long odds in the Republican-controlled House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate. Under current rules, passage in the Senate would require 60 votes. A constitutional amendment requires even more hurdles, including two-thirds support of both chambers, or by a convention of two-thirds of the states, and then approval by three-fourths of state legislatures.
I’ve been thinking a lot about FDR in recent weeks and how Biden should lean into that comparison at every level. Franklin D. Roosevelt was in poor health when he ran for reelection the third and fourth time, but the American people still believed in him and voted for him because they knew that the Nazis must be defeated. Same as it ever was. But I’ve also been thinking about FDR’s scheme to pack the court. Roosevelt’s plan failed… but I guarantee that Biden’s lawyers and legal experts are examining Roosevelt’s plan. Something must be done and if Biden is committed to making changes to the court, he should go much further than this.
This week’s cover of The New Yorker pic.twitter.com/5o1EFWp0HW
— Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss4) July 15, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.