Hope it's not another case of too little, too late.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.
WaPo
He shouldn't have to weigh that. It should be a given.He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders.
It's a start.The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to make substantive changes to the high court.
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Term limits and an ethics code would be subject to congressional approval, which would face long odds in the Republican-controlled House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate.Under current rules, passage in the Senate would require 60 votes. A constitutional amendment requires even more hurdles, including two-thirds support of both chambers, or by a convention of two-thirds of the states, and then approval by three-fourths of state legislatures.
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Shortly after The Post published this story, former president Donald Trump criticized the move on Truth Social: “The Democrats are attempting to interfere in the Presidential Election, and destroy our Justice System, by attacking their Political Opponent, ME, and our Honorable Supreme Court,” he wrote. “We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country.”
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Eight Democratic senators have co-sponsored a bill that would establish 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices, with a new justice appointed every two years. The nine most recently appointed justices would sit for appellate jurisdiction cases, while others would be able to hear original jurisdiction cases or to step in as a substitute if one of the most recent nine is conflicted or cannot hear a case for another reason.
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Democrats have offered other legislation to deal with ethics concerns about the high court, including a bill by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) that caps gifts judges can receive, requires the court to follow the judicial code of conduct and requires justices to provide written recusal decisions upon request from litigants, among other changes.
To put that into words: (1) these reforms have no chance of being adopted; (2) even if they’re adopted, they’re unlikely to be effective anytime soon; and (3) these reforms are coming way too late—in July of a presidential election year—to do anything other than confirm everyone in their priors. Ultimately, the real effect of this proposal is to drive home just how much President Biden has missed his chances—in December 2021; in the summer of 2022; and even last summer—to meaningfully change our national conversation about the Supreme Court. He may not get another one.
Steve Vladeck
UPDATE 08/05/2024:
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