When President Joe Biden delivered an Oval Office address last week, announcing his decision to end his re-election campaign, the Democratic incumbent briefly touched on some of the priorities he’d pursue in his remaining months in office. Though he didn’t go into any details at the time, Biden told the public, “I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy.”
Evidently, he meant it. NBC News reported:
President Joe Biden on Monday called for an overhaul of the Supreme Court and a constitutional amendment limiting the power of his own office — reforms that might not be implemented but demonstrate his priorities in his final months in office — in an op-ed Monday in The Washington Post.
In addition to the Post op-ed, the White House issued a fact-sheet overview of Biden’s plan, which has three key provisions:
- Biden is endorsing a “No One Is Above the Law Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution to address the recent Supreme Court ruling in which Republican-appointed justices created new levels of criminal immunity for presidents.
- The incumbent president’s agenda also calls for term limits for justices. The White House’s fact sheet says Biden supports “a system in which the President would appoint a Justice every two years to spend eighteen years in active service on the Supreme Court.”
- The Democrat wants a binding code of conduct for the high court, with ethics rules “that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.” In his Post op-ed, Biden added, “This is common sense. The court’s current voluntary ethics code is weak and self-enforced.”
In the recent past, this list might’ve been seen as surprising. After all, Biden has earned a reputation as a longtime institutionalist.
But he addressed this point directly in his Post piece, explaining, “I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today. I have great respect for our institutions and the separation of powers.
“What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.”
So, what happens now?
For those hoping to see rapid reforms, it’s best to lower expectations. It would be up to Congress to pass legislation creating term limits for justices and a binding code of conduct, and that won’t happen anytime soon. Indeed, House Speaker Mike Johnson has already said the White House’s plan is “dead on arrival” in the GOP-led chamber.
As my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained, adding a “No One Is Above the Law Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution is even more difficult.
That said, it’s important to appreciate the fact that Biden has jolted a broader conversation. There are some Democrats on Capitol Hill who’ve proposed related reforms, but when it comes to moving an issue into the national spotlight, there’s no substitute for presidential influence.
What’s more, Biden has created an intraparty dynamic in which Supreme Court reforms are likely to become an immediate staple of the Democratic agenda. Indeed, it wasn’t long after the president unveiled his reform plan when Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed the same agenda, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone when other Democratic leaders follow suit.
Reforming the Supreme Court was on the periphery of the political discourse. Biden has changed that in a hurry, making meaningful changes more likely — eventually. Watch this space.
