Biden calls for Supreme Court reform

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Joe Biden on Monday called for Supreme Court term limits, an enforceable ethics code and a constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity, to counter waning public faith in the institution. 

“This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law,” Biden wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post. “Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one.”

The president said Americans questioned the court’s fairness and independence after rulings overturning protections for fundamental rights and the justices’ ethics scandals. Biden said congressional action was necessary to restore trust and accountability. 

“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 wrote. “We now stand in a breach.”

A White House official said Biden would detail his proposal at a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the LBJ Presidential Library on Monday evening. Last week, the president previewed his support for reforms during an Oval Office address. 

Biden wants to limit justices’ service on the bench to 18 years, giving each president two appointees per term. The proposal mirrors others from lawmakers and advocacy groups; there has been public bipartisan support for term limits. 

Until the 1960s, the average justice served on the court for 15 years. Now justices are serving almost twice as long. 

Biden proposed binding the justices to an enforceable code of conduct. The justices currently enforce their own code of ethics — which they signed on to after news reports on undisclosed ethical transgressions. 

The code would include a requirement to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse from cases where justices have a conflict of interest. 

Justice Elena Kagan, a Barack Obama appointee, provided an alternate path for accountability last week. She said Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, should designate a committee of judges to review any ethical violations. 

“Rules usually have enforcement mechanisms attached to them, and this one, this set of rules does not,” Kagan said in remarks at the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit Conference. 

Biden called for a constitutional amendment to counter the court’s recent presidential immunity ruling, coined the No One Is Above the Law Amendment. He said the Constitution does not protect presidents from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction or sentencing. 

Endorsing Supreme Court reforms marks a major shift for Biden, who served as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee during his decades as a senator. In 2021, Biden commissioned a study on court reforms but failed to act on any proposals until now. Biden said he respects democratic institutions and the separation of powers but the justices’ recent behavior warranted a change. 

A concrete plan of action from the White House is sure to be welcome news for members of Congress who have for months campaigned for legislation addressing Supreme Court ethics, term limits for justices and other issues.

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sponsored the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act, which would among other things require the justices to draft a binding code of ethics.

He told Courthouse News that his staff had been in touch with the White House on the issue.

“I couldn’t be happier that they’re moving in this direction,” he said.

Whitehouse’s bill was blocked by Republicans on the Senate floor earlier this year. Democrats have signaled that they plan to bring it up again — and Monday’s announcement from Biden could mean that effort is once again underway.

Meanwhile, other Democratic lawmakers such as Georgia Representative Hank Johnson have introduced legislation that would implement 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices and expand the bench to 13 from its current nine members.

Despite the White House’s newfound commitment to court reform and an existing lineup of legislation in Congress, it’s unlikely that Democrats will be able to push through any major changes to the Supreme Court before the November election. 

Republicans, who control the House and are barely in the minority in the Senate, have roundly rejected the idea. GOP lawmakers have argued that Democrats are seeking to punish conservative justices for rulings walking back abortion rights and clamping down on federal agency authority, among others.

Last week, Ohio Representative Jim Jordan said his colleagues pushing for reform wanted to undermine and delegitimize the court. In a letter to the Justice Department, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Democrats’ incendiary rhetoric put the justices in danger. 

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