WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Joe Biden is proposing sweeping changes to the Supreme Court. He is proposing term limits for Justices, a constitutional amendment on presidential immunity and a code of ethics for our highest Court. These proposals are not being embraced by everyone.
In an opinion piece in The Washington Post written by President Biden, he wrote: “This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: no one is above the law.” Without mentioning names, Biden hints at a recent challenge from former President Donald Trump about presidential immunity in the case against Trump accusing the former president of trying to overturn the 2020 election, which led to the January 6th Capitol attack. The Court recently ruled that presidents are granted immunity from prosecution for official acts.
Biden said the office of the presidency tests not only your judgment but your character too.
“Because not only you face moments where you face courage to exercise the full power of the presidency, you also face moments where you need the wisdom to respect the limits of the power of the presidency,” said Biden.
Biden claims what is happening at our highest Court is not normal and references to the Court overturning a nearly 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortions. He also mentioned the ethical questions about the Court following reports of justices not disclosing luxury gifts or their family member’s alleged actions displaying politically provocative flags.
He is now proposing major changes to the court. One: a constitutional amendment that would prohibit blanket immunity for presidents. In addition to that, he is also calling on 18 year-term limits for justices. And lastly, he also wants the Court to adopt a code of ethics. Members in the large Congressional Progressive Caucus are endorsing the changes. They said in part this is a strong step towards restoring public trust those justices have broken.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R- LA) disagrees. He said these proposals are efforts to delegitimize the court and that democrats want to change the system because they disagree with some of the Court’s recent decisions.
Chief Justice John Roberts has defended the Court before. He has said justices abide by a new ethics code but the new policy did not include additional oversight, which is something Democratic lawmakers have been pushing.
