Critics argue that President Biden’s push for radical reforms to the Supreme Court is merely pandering to the left-wing Democratic base of an administration once described as “moderate.”
On Monday, Biden and Vice President Harris, who is currently the leading Democratic candidate in November’s presidential election, supported sweeping measures for Congress to adopt, including term limits, ethics rules and a constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity.
In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, Biden said he had “great respect for our institutions and the separation of powers,” but added, “What is happening now is not normal and undermines public confidence in the Supreme Court’s decisions, including those that affect individual liberties. We are in a crisis.”
The move marks a near 180-degree turn for Biden, who has largely opposed even his own party’s plans to make such changes to the Supreme Court.
‘Stop the hypocrisy’: Conservative activists urge Democrats who support Supreme Court ethics rules to take their own medicine
President Biden descends the steps of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on July 17, 2024. (Susan Walsh/The Associated Press)
Early in his political career as a senator, Biden called President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plans to put term limits on older justices and staff the Supreme Court a “foolish idea.” Staffing the Supreme Court, or staffing the court, means adding more justices to the Supreme Court.
During the 2020 campaign, he resisted calls to expand the size of the Supreme Court, arguing it would undermine the court’s credibility.
In his announcement Monday, Biden did not say he wanted to add to the Supreme Court’s staffing, but as he walked out the Oval Office door, he was endorsing the plans of his party’s most extreme wing.
“The first to respond to the far-left’s calls to destroy the Supreme Court were candidates desperate to save their failing campaigns,” said Carrie Severino, president of the Justice Network.
Biden, Harris call for Supreme Court term limits, code of conduct, and limits on presidential immunity
President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yard in Atlanta on March 9, 2024. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
“Now they will be endorsed by candidates who will have to cater to dark money groups within the Arabella Advisors network, such as Demand Justice, Fix the Court and a host of other pop-up groups funded by liberal billionaires,” she added.
Arabella Advisors is a dark money fund that funds a variety of left-wing causes, notably Harris’ communications director, Brian Fallon, who is the former head of Demand Justice, an Arabella funding group that advocates for more courts.
Another group linked to Arabella, Fix the Court, is pushing for term limits for judges.
“[Biden is] “He’s trying to drum up some enthusiasm with this tactic,” said Republican strategist Matt Gorman.
Trump immunity case: Supreme Court rules former presidents have broad protection from prosecution
Vice President Harris (Erin Shaff/Pool via Reuters)
“It’s laughable that Joe Biden is advocating term limits. The left cannot stand not having control of the Supreme Court and will do anything to take it away through legislative force,” he said.
The Supreme Court’s ideological leanings shifted when former President Trump appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. It’s true that conservatives don’t always vote in unison, but Democrats in Congress and the White House still claim that about their Republican-appointed majorities.
“President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have no control over the Supreme Court, so they are ignoring the Constitution and trying to destroy the Supreme Court,” Severino said.
“Biden and Harris are declaring war on the separation of powers with this announcement,” she added.
The Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates responded, “President Biden, who defends the rule of law and the integrity of the Supreme Court, is grateful that these proposals have support from bipartisan legal experts, members of Congress and a majority of the American people.”
Senator Kennedy says ‘dangerous’ Democratic judicial ethics bill would allow any ‘bastard’ to demand resignation
“Republicans now have a choice: Do they protect a conflict of interest on the highest court in the land and help the president stay above the law, or do they stand with Joe Biden, conservative former judges and their own voters and defend principles that must take precedence over any partisanship?” Bates said.
Notably, the Supreme Court adopted a new code of conduct last year after months of scrutiny by Democrats in Congress.
“These rules and principles are, for the most part, not new. Courts have long had what amount to common law ethical rules – a set of rules derived from a variety of sources, including statutory provisions and norms applicable to other provisions. Members of the Federal Courtethics advisory opinions issued by the Judicial Conference Committee on Code of Conduct, and historical practice,” the statement signed by all the justices said.
Click here to download the FOX News app
“However, the absence of a code has created a misconception in recent years that judges of this court, unlike all other jurists in the country, believe they are not bound by any ethical rules. To dispel this misconception, we are issuing this code, which in large part represents a codification of the principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct,” the statement said.
