A new Fox News poll has found that disdain for the Supreme Court has continued to increase to the highest levels in history. Voters say the Court is too conservative and too partisan in its rulings. The Court’s approval is now 38% down 3 points from April 2023 (41%) and down 20 points from a high of 58% in March 2017. Sixty percent disapprove of the court’s performance is a high point.
So, wouldn’t this be a time for reforming the Court? Biden says he thinks so. Yesterday, Tyler Pager and Michael Scherer reported that “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… The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a [conservative] 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.
…During the 2020 presidential race, Biden rebuffed calls from liberals who advocated expanding the court, but he promised he would create a commission to study potential changes. He followed through on that promise after being elected, and the commission issued a 294-page report to the president. Biden has not acted on the commission’s report since it was approved in December 2021.
…Since he was elected, the Supreme Court has veeredbsharply not the right— overturning Roe v. Wade, ending affirmative action in college admissions, weakening federal agencies’ power by overturning a 40-year decision and striking down Biden’s student-loan forgiveness program. Biden condemned the court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, arguing on July 1 that it should motivate Americans to vote for his reelection.
“Each of us is equal before the law. No one— no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” Biden said in a White House address. “With today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed.”
Eight Democratic senators have co-sponsoredna bill that would establish 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices, with a new justice appointed every two years. The nine most recently appointed justices would sit for appellate jurisdiction cases, while others would be able to hear original jurisdiction cases or to step in as a substitute if one of the most recent nine is conflicted or cannot hear a case for another reason.
The legislation was introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), but it has been co-sponsored by several Democrats: Cory Booker (NJ), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Alex Padilla (CA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Peter Welch (VT), Brian Schatz (HI) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY).
Democrats have offered other legislation to deal with ethics concerns about the high court, including a bill by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) that caps gifts judges can receive, requires the court to follow the judicial code of conduct and requires justices to provide written recusal decisions upon request from litigants, among other changes.
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.
Unless Democrats change Senate rules nothing will EVER happen.