President Joe Biden, potentially picking up an idea that could rally party liberals to his cause as he fights off calls to end his reelection bid, is set to soon endorse a set of sweeping changes to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Citing remarks Biden made in a video conference call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Post said the overhauls include term limits for justices and an enforceable code of conduct.
He may also support the drafting of a constitutional amendment meant to walk back the Supreme Court’s recent decision surrounding Donald Trump’s criminal charges, in which the court ruled presidents are largely immune from criminal prosecution for their official conduct.
The changes to the court would likely need to be signed off on by Congress, a near-impossibility in this election year, and could be blocked by Republicans via a filibuster even if Democrats retained a majority of Senate seats in November.
Still, Biden’s reported shift on whether the court should be reformed would mark a big change for him. Earlier in his term, he commissioned a study of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, but did little more.
“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,” the Post quoted Biden as telling the group, citing a transcript from a source it did not identify.
Democrats have focused their ire on the nation’s highest court in recent years, as the six-justice conservative majority on the nine-person court has rolled out powerful rulings.
In 2022, it went against almost a half-century of legal precedent to override Roe v. Wade, allowing states to restrict abortions. In June, it threw out a 40-year-old precedent called Chevron deference. That doctrine had been crucial in supporting the government’s regulatory authority, because it said agencies could put in place regs and rules without waiting to see the outcome of court challenges in most instances.
The Supreme Court has also come under increased scrutiny in the wake of reporting from ProPublica that expensive and unreported gifts to two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, had gone undisclosed.
The scandals surrounding Alito and Thomas spurred Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to file impeachment articles against them.
