President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to endorse a set of major reforms to the Supreme Court, marking a sharp departure from his previously held positions on the judiciary.
According to a Tuesday report from the Washington Post, the president, who is campaigning in Nevada, is finalizing plans to back establishing term limits for Supreme Court justices and instituting a new, enforceable code of ethics.
Two people briefed on Biden’s plans also told the Washington Post that Biden is still on the fence about calling for an end to blanket immunity for presidents, just weeks after the Supreme Court issued its immunity ruling that gave former President Donald Trump a victory when it decided presidents have “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority” and “presumptive immunity” for all official acts.
The White House and Justice Department declined to comment on the report.
The president has been critical of the Supreme Court’s apparent swing to the right in recent years after being handed major losses on abortion, student loan debt, and more.
“This decision today has continued the court’s attack in recent years on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our nation, from gutting voting rights and civil rights to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation,” Biden said in direct response to the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
Carrie Severino, the president of the conservative judicial advocacy group Judicial Crisis Network, told the Washington Examiner that Biden’s potential reforms would require congressional authorization and are “constitutional nonstarters.”
“We all realize the kind of electoral nightmare Joe Biden is living right now. But this is not going to solve it, and he seems to be throwing a bone to some of the top ticket items of left-wing dark money groups, maybe trying to help, hoping to reassure or reinvigorate some of his donors, who I’m sure are concerned at this point. But there’s no way this is going to happen,” Severino, a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, stated.
“President Biden is right to lay out an ambitious plan that provides an important first step to repair and strengthen our democracy, which continues to be weakened by the unchecked corruption, partisanship, and lawlessness exhibited by justices on the Supreme Court,” Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability Action, who in June appeared at a roundtable of House members to discuss the mounting ethics crisis at the Supreme Court, told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “We look forward to reviewing the details of proposals to impose term limits and establish an enforceable ethics code, both of which are important steps in the right direction.”
As president, Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has largely avoided endorsing court reforms proposed by Democrats over the past three years, specifically an effort by progressives following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision to expand the Supreme Court’s bench.
But Biden has also faced a steady chorus of voices from within his own party to make way for a younger, nimbler 2024 Democratic nominee, and his shift on court reforms marks the second olive branch Biden has extended to Democratic power players and voters in as many days.
Tuesday morning, the White House announced a proposal that would see corporate landlords lose out on tax breaks if they don’t install 5% rent caps for already existing units.
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The proposal would only affect landlords with more than 50 units in their portfolio but has virtually no prospects of advancing through Congress given the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
Kaelan Deese contributed to this report.