On December 20, 2023, US President Biden delivered a speech on his economic policies at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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President Joe Biden is preparing to approve major proposals to reform the act. Supreme Court and notified some Congressman Three sources familiar with the plans revealed Tuesday his intentions over the weekend.
Proposals under serious consideration include legislation to establish term limits for judges and the creation of an updated ethics code that would be binding and enforceable, one source said. The policies, which have not yet been finalized, could be rolled out in the coming weeks and would be a new approach for a president who has long been skeptical of reorganizing the Supreme Court.
A White House spokesman declined to comment.
Biden told lawmakers in the Congressional Progressive Caucus during a virtual meeting on Saturday that he has been consulting constitutional scholars on the matter for more than a month, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“I need your help and your advice on how we should do what I’m going to do there. Want to make sure that we have a closer working relationship because we’re in this together,” Biden told the source, although he did not discuss specifics. policy content, but he still made suggestions to lawmakers.
Washington post first reported Biden’s plan.
Two other sources told NBC News that Biden told lawmakers he would make major reforms without providing details, but members of the call believed he was referring to term limits and ethics rules. The call took place before former President Donald Trump was assassinated at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“Look, it’s not, it’s not an exaggeration to say that Trump is actually an existential threat to the very existence of the democratic constitution that we say we care about. I mean, if this guy wins, he’s not, Now, especially with the Supreme Court giving him broad powers – I don’t need to be on the Supreme Court right now – by any means, but I need your help,” Biden said, according to the source who provided the excerpt.
Changing the Supreme Court’s structure would require Congress to enact a new law. That scenario is highly unlikely to happen with Republicans in control of the House, as the party is content with the 6-3 conservative majority it has established on the high court.
But the proposals could become useful messaging tools for Biden on the campaign trail. If Democrats win big in the election, they may have a good chance of passing it. Democrats have rallied voters to oppose the Supreme Court, citing unpopular rulings such as rolling back federal abortion rights and a spate of recent reports detailing apparent ethical lapses on the part of some justices.
Last month, Senate Democrats tried to pass Supreme Court ethics legislation, but Opposed by Republicans. In the House, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Don Beyer (D-Virginia) said introduce legislation This would impose 18-year term limits on future judges, ultimately creating vacancies Fill vacancies during every four-year presidential term and prevent retirements for partisan reasons.
Khanna praised Biden’s enthusiasm for the idea, noting that he first introduced term limits legislation in 2020.
“We’ve been advocating for the president to support this reform ever since,” Khanna told NBC News on Tuesday. “He’s now calling for commonsense term limits and judicial ethics for the courts, which is a big step. “
