Former Homeland Security Secretary Jay Johnson said Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity was a “setback to our nation’s constitutional order.”
“This is an incredible decision for me,” Johnson said. MSNBC “Good morning, Joe,” he said. “And in my view, this is a setback to our constitutional order.”
On Monday, the nation’s highest court ruled 6-3 that the president’s powers give him immunity from criminal prosecution, a decision that divided the justices along ideological lines and sparked outrage from the court’s liberal wing.
“I studied the Constitution 45 years ago,” Johnson said during an appearance on “Morning Joe,” “and I must have missed a lesson where the teacher said, ‘There’s a clause in the Constitution that says, ‘The president is immune from criminal liability.'”
The Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity was a victory for former President Trump, sending back to lower courts his federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the election four years ago.
“This is a huge victory for our Constitution and Democracy. Proud to be an American!” Trump said on Truth Social shortly after the verdict was announced.
President Biden on Monday denounced the immunity decision, calling it a “dangerous precedent.”
“In effect, today’s ruling almost certainly means that there will be virtually no limits on presidential action – a fundamentally new principle,” Biden said in a statement from the White House. “This is a dangerous precedent because the power of the president will no longer be limited by the law, including by the United States Supreme Court.”
“The only restrictions will be self-imposed by the president himself,” he added.
Congress has approached the Supreme Court.
