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It appears that President Joe Biden has finally come to glory on the importance of making changes to the U.S. Supreme Court. Two members of Biden’s administration told the Washington Post under the condition of anonymity that “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.”
Wouldn’t that be something? Term limits for Supreme Court justices would mean old curmudgeonly regressives who want to make America 1960 again by overturning every civil protection imaginable like Clarence Thomas, who took his seat on the court in 1991, will no longer enjoy the lifetime appointments that allow them to enforce outdated and out of touch views permanently on the American populace regardless of how unpopular those views are.
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After all, affirmative action and Roe v. Wade didn’t get overturned because, after being lawful for decades, justices miraculously found some hidden precedent that made them unconstitutional. They got overturned for the same reason the conservative-dominated Supreme Court has been upholding racist congressional maps that intentionally dilute Black voting power—because old white people with old white values (and yes, that includes Thomas) had the majority and the MAGA momentum to make it happen. The highest court in the country needs political balance, and that balance would be more attainable if we didn’t basically have to wait for justices to die or make the decision to retire before they can be replaced.
Biden, who is the former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is also reportedly mulling over a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders, which is obviously a response to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that Donald Trump has “presumptive immunity” for acts he performed while he was the sitting president, which was obviously a response to the commander-in-34-felonies drowning in legal woes.
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“I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court because I’m about to come out — I don’t want to prematurely announce it — but I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court. … I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need some help,” Biden said during a Zoom call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, according to the Post.
Since checks and balances are a thing, Biden wouldn’t have the final say in what changes regarding the Supreme Court, and considering the political makeup of Congress, it would be an uphill battle to get the changes approved and made official.
From the Post:
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.
The details of Biden’s considered policies have not been disclosed. A White House spokesperson declined to comment.
Despite the details of Biden’s potential policies remaining undisclosed, Trump responded to the news by doing what he always does: telling lies that don’t even make sense.
“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 on his Truth Social platform (which desperately needs to be renamed). “We have to fight for our Fair and Independent Courts, and protect our Country.”
At this point, it’s as if Trump wakes up every morning and his first thought is, “Time to lie about election interference again!” Biden’s planning of potential Supreme Court changes has nothing to do with the upcoming presidential race, but Trump knows his constituents don’t challenge his alternative “facts” or his nonsensical fearmongering, so he can pretty much say anything and repeat it enough times to make it true enough that it gets MAGA immunity from fact checks.
Anyway, the real question many of us are going to have for Biden is: Why did this decision take so long?
More from the Post:
During the 2020 presidential race, Biden rebuffed calls from liberals who advocated expanding the court, but he promised he would create a commission to study potential changes. He followed through on that promise after being elected, and the commission issued a 294-page report to the president. Biden has not acted on the commission’s report since it was approved in December 2021.
Approval ratings of the Supreme Court have dropped precipitously in recent years, and Biden finds himself trying to resuscitate a flagging presidential campaign after the politically disastrous debate.
Yep, Biden is on the political ropes and Supreme Court reform might just be his attempt at throwing a haymaker—but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a good idea.
SEE MORE:
Here We Go Again: Supreme Court Upholds South Carolina Voting Map Lower Court Ruled Was Racist
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