President Joe Biden is gearing up to support Supreme Court changes aimed at energizing the Democratic Party’s left-wing base amid a struggling reelection campaign.
According to The Washington Post’s report on Tuesday, Biden is set to endorse term limits for Supreme Court justices and a new “ethics code” to be enforced against the judiciary.
However, he will not go so far as to advocate for expanding the Court.
That might be more about politics than principle.
Democrats had initially aimed to leverage their temporary majority in both houses of Congress in 2021 and 2022 to expand and “pack” the Court with enough liberal justices to offset the six justices nominated by Republicans.
The probable scenario of losing the Senate—given the high number of Democrat-held seats at stake in November—makes expanding the Court less appealing, as Republicans could block nominations of left-leaning justices.
As reported by The Post:
President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans.
He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to reform the high court.
Following Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation in 2018, which shifted the Court to a 5-4 majority of Republican appointees, progressive Democrats started discussing Court packing.
The concept gained momentum during the 2020 campaign, particularly after the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Biden declined to state his position, pledging only to appoint a commission to study the issue.
When the commission released its report in December 2021, it concluded that the advantages of expanding the Court were “uncertain.” The report also explored proposals such as term limits and an ethics code for Supreme Court justices.
President Biden did not move forward with implementing the proposed reforms. According to The Post, many of these changes would have needed legislation, requiring some level of Republican support to overcome the Senate filibuster.
Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said during an interview at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that Democrats are attempting to alter the rules simply because recent Court decisions have not favored them.
He emphasized that Biden’s proposals underscored the belief that the 2024 presidential election will indeed be “the most important of our lifetime,” as Biden had put the Court at stake.
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