This is an adapted excerpt from the July 29 episode of “Deadline: White House.”
On Monday, President Joe Biden announced a slate of new proposals to overhaul the Supreme Court, calling on Congress to establish term limits and a binding code of ethics for the justices. He also asked lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the court’s decision allowing sitting presidents immunity from criminal law.
There’s no question the Roberts Court is in a crisis.
Now I know the chances of these reforms passing or being enshrined in our Constitution anytime soon are not great. But Biden did the right thing. It’s very important that the president put this marker down ahead of November’s election.
There’s no question the Roberts Court is in a crisis. The American people do not trust it. The justices’ ethical lapses have been huge and notable.
Most Americans realize there’s something wrong with sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices taking all this free stuff from billionaires when everybody else in government has to be very transparent. Committing crimes as president and getting a free get-out-of-jail card is also not acceptable to most Americans.
What we’re witnessing from the Supreme Court is extreme arrogance. When all of the details of these ethical lapses first came out — the hundreds of thousands of dollars in luxury trips, school tuition, RVs and fishing trips — that would have been a moment for a majority of justices on the court to do a gut check and say it’s time for ethics reform.
Instead of doing that, the majority of justices on the bench have told the American people: “You can’t touch us. Leave us alone.”
It’s just arrogant.
It’s also infuriating for people like myself, who have served in government and been subject to ethics rules. Almost everyone in government has to abide by ethics rules. It is part of our democracy and has been for a long time. What we’re witnessing from the Supreme Court is extreme arrogance. Ethics rules for judges who aren’t Supreme Court judges are tough. Same for members of Congress. If you’re a member of Congress. you can’t even go out to dinner with someone — you have to stand up and eat only hors d’oeuvres for it to qualify under the ethics rule. Proposals like term limits have always been popular with voters, no matter who they are for. Republicans backing away from reform simply because the court is on their side right now is not a good look. Even if these proposals aren’t implemented, I think this could be a winning issue for Democrats at the ballot box. Join Claire McCaskill, Rachel Maddow and many others on Saturday, Sept. 7, in Brooklyn, New York, for “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,” a first-of-its kind live event. You’ll get to see your favorite hosts in person and hear thought-provoking conversations about what matters most in the final weeks of an unprecedented election cycle. Buy tickets here.
Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. She is currently an MSNBC and NBC News political analyst.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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