Biden Announces Supreme Court Reform Plan

President Biden endorsed sweeping changes to the Supreme Court on Monday, calling for 18-year term limits for the justices and a binding, enforceable ethics code for the court.

He is also pushing for a constitutional amendment that would prohibit blanket immunity for presidents in opposition to the court’s recent presidential immunity decision, which protects current and former presidents from prosecution of “official acts.” The court’s decision stemmed from a case concerning former president Donald Trump.

Biden laid out his vision in an op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post Monday morning after years of resisting calls to reform the Supreme Court. Since Biden assumed the presidency, the high court has veered right – overturning the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade, ending affirmative action, and weakening federal agencies’ powers by slashing the 40-year-strong Chevron deference. The court has also been mired by several ethics-related scandals in recent years. 

“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. No one,” Biden wrote.

Biden pointed out that as a senator, vice president, and now president of the United States, he has “overseen more Supreme Court nominations” than “anyone living today.” He says the court of today is operating abnormally.

“What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms,” Biden continued.

Biden is calling for three “bold reforms to restore trust and accountability to the court and our democracy.” The first would be a constitutional amendment – Biden dubbed it the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment” – that prohibits presidential immunity for any crimes committed while in office.

This dream is unlikely to be achieved – amending the constitution is no easy feat, and the most recent success story was back in 1992. Proposed amendments must receive two-thirds support in both the House and the Senate, which is quite the hurdle for a deeply divided Congress.

The second reform would be to institute term limits for Supreme Court justices, who currently serve for life. The lifetime tenure of justices makes the appointment of new justices unpredictable – in one four-year term, Trump appointed three new justices, radically altering the make-up of the court. Biden appointed one justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to the court.

Lastly, Biden called for a “binding” code of conduct, writing that such a reform is “common sense.” As things stand, the court does have a voluntary ethics code, but it is self-enforced. Justices have in recent years been called out for allegedly acting unethically and receiving no punishment for their actions.

Specifically, Justice Clarence Thomas chose not to disclose gifts of luxury travel from a right-leaning billionaire, while Justice Samuel Alito came under criticism for what he said was his wife’s choice to fly politically provocative flags outside their homes.

“Justices should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest,” Biden wrote. “Every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct, and there is no reason for the Supreme Court to be exempt.”

These second two reforms are aspirational, too. They would be subject to congressional approval, and the Republican-controlled House is unlikely to support either. Both proposals would also require 60 votes to pass in the Senate, in which Democrats only hold 51 seats.

Biden finished his op-ed by writing that most Americans support his proposed reforms, a statement backed up by polling data. A Marquette Law School poll concerning the Supreme Court showed that the majority of Americans (61%) disapprove of the Supreme Court. Approval ratings look very different depending on ideological lean, however. Just 43% of Republican respondents disapprove of the court, while 74% of independents and 77% of Democrats disapprove.

About seven in 10 Americans (71%) believe presidents “should not have immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts.” However, when the same question specified Trump as the president in question, only 60% of Americans said he should not have immunity.

American citizens are split on whether they believe Supreme Court justices are political actors. Over half (56%) of respondents said they believe justices are motivated by “mostly politics” when deciding cases. This does not bode well for the court, which is theoretically apolitical. It also partially explains why just 24% of Americans have a “great deal/a lot” of confidence in the court, while 40% say their confidence level sits at “little/none.”

The announcement from Biden has been met with varying reactions. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president since Biden left the race this month, endorsed Biden’s proposals.

“These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law,” she said. 

Harris’ opponent and one of the targets of the reform, Trump, was not so supportive.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country.”

Biden is expected to talk about the proposals Monday afternoon during remarks in Austin, Texas, at the LBJ Presidential Library commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.