President Joe Biden is preparing to propose term limits for Supreme Court justices, in a move that could shift again the trajectory of the presidential race, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The overhaul would also include an enforceable ethics code for the nation’s highest court.
The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled 6-3 in July that Donald Trump has broad immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken in office as president.Credit: Bloomberg
In a change that could directly affect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Biden is also considering pushing for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.
Biden revealed the planned reform in a Zoom call on Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the grouping of left-leaning representatives.
“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.
The Supreme Court’s rightward activists tilt on a number of cases involving abortion and presidential immunity, as well as the behaviour of ethics issues around justices has raised alarm bells not just with Democrats but constitutional scholars who fear the court has become more partisan.
In 2022, the court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision which affirmed federal protection for legal abortion, while ending programs to help minorities enter universities.
Justice Clarence Thomas has been embroiled in successive scandals over previously unreported gifts and trips paid for by conservative donors.
The changes for the court would require congressional approval.
The prospect of putting Supreme Court reform on the ballot in November would essentially open a new front in battle between Biden and former president Trump not just to win the presidency in November, but to frame the stakes for the US in the years ahead.
Trump has nominated three of the Court’s conservative members, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who have presided over an activist approach toward culture war issues, as well as the presidential power.
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