Legal experts are raising objections to sweeping Supreme Court reforms that President Biden may support.
Before Biden abruptly dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his lead nominee, he was reportedly considering supporting legislation that would impose term limits on Supreme Court justices and new enforceable ethics rules.
Such legislation would mark a radical shift for Biden, who has so far resisted calls to expand the Supreme Court or make any substantive reforms.
But with just months to go until the presidential election, Biden could be shifting his views to align with more radical members of his party, after giving Republican appointees the majority since the Trump administration. But legal experts have warned that such congressional action would “undermine democracy.”
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Justices pose for an official photograph at the Supreme Court. (Olivier D’Uglier/AFP via Getty Images)
“The question of whether President Biden and his left can impose term limits or age restrictions on Supreme Court justices through statute alone, rather than a constitutional amendment, is highly contentious at best and depends on messy details that have yet to be revealed,” John Theu, a constitutional lawyer and former official in both Bush administrations, told Fox News Digital.
“To try to do that would absolutely undermine democracy, separation of powers and the very fabric of the Constitution. It would also seek to delegitimize the institution of the courts. A constitutional amendment would be the cleanest way to impose term or age limits on Supreme Court justices, but it’s a terrible idea for a number of reasons,” he said.
Schuh noted that in the past, Biden has “publicly and strongly opposed expansion of the courts and term limits for federal judges, calling both ‘foolish.'”
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Crowds outside the Supreme Court react to the Dobbs decision. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Cummins)
“It would be incredibly foolish and dangerous to destroy our entire Constitution and our institutions of government simply because some people don’t like the current Supreme Court decisions,” he added.
Mike Davis, a former Senate nominating director and president of the Article III Project, said the proposal Biden is reportedly considering supporting is “a radical attack on the independence of the judiciary and a grave threat to the democracy he pretends to protect.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a celebration of the 2024 NCAA championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
It’s unclear whether Biden will continue to try to change the structure of the Supreme Court amid questions about the legality of such a move — and whether he was considering the measure for political reasons amid growing pressure to drop out of the race.
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Carrie Severino, president of the conservative advocacy group JCN and author of “Justice on Trial: Kavanaugh’s Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court,” said she expects Harris and other Democratic candidates “will pledge their allegiance to the politicization of the Supreme Court to go after the same dark money groups that Biden has approached.”
“She’s probably going to repeat exactly some of the most extreme policy ideas out there.”
