President Joe Biden’s proposal to reform the nation’s highest court on Monday prompted support and criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
The president addressed his proposed reforms during a speech at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, where he commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
“The [Supreme Court’s] ethics code is weak,” President Biden told supporters.
He specifically targeted the court’s recent decision, which concluded that former President Donald Trump was “absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority,” according to the ruling.
“They ruled, as you know, that the president of the United States has immunity for potential crimes he may have committed while in office,” President Biden said. “No one is above the law!”
His speech comes after Republicans and Democrats quickly reacted to the president’s opinion piece in the Washington Post on Monday, which called for major reforms to the nation’s highest court. His plan includes the removal of immunity for crimes a former president committed while in office, term limits for Supreme Court justices, and a binding code of conduct.
“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,” the president wrote, adding that the changes are necessary to “restore trust and accountability to the court and our democracy.”
The Supreme Court is currently a 6–3 conservative majority. President Trump appointed three justices to the court while President Biden appointed one justice during his term.
Democrats on Monday applauded the president’s sweeping three-pronged proposal and endorsed changes to the nation’s highest court.
“Bravo, POTUS!” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote in a post on X. “This Supreme Court has proven it cannot police itself. It’s time for Congress to take significant action on Supreme Court ethics and term limits reform.” The senator, who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee, added that he has the legislation to get it done.
“To assure minimal democratic accountability, term limits & a code of ethics for Justices are ideas whose time has come,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote in a post on X. “Indeed, for Justices acting like politicians in robes—who think they’re answerable to no one in imposing a hard right political agenda—such reforms are overdue.”
Vice President Kamala Harris supported the proposed changes in a statement released by her campaign Monday, calling the changes necessary to “restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law.”
Former President Trump, in a post on Truth Social earlier this month, pushed back on such reform.
“The Democrats are attempting to interfere in the Presidential Election, and destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court. We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country,” former President Trump posted on his Truth Social site earlier this month.
In alignment with the former president, Republican lawmakers echoed the sanctity of the Supreme Court as an independent body.
“You can’t overthrow the U.S. Constitution just because you don’t like the results,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) wrote in a post on X following the president’s announcement.
“Liberals are furious that #SCOTUS is abiding by the Constitution, shrinking the size of the federal government, and rightly returning authority to the states,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) wrote in a post on X. “The Biden-Harris plan to pack #SCOTUS (adding just enough seats to swing the majority) is a toxic power grab that would erode the independence of the court.”
While President Biden pledged to push his proposal with less than six months left in his term, congressional approval is needed to establish term limits and a binding ethics code. The current divided Congress, however, is unlikely to take up the proposals this year.