President Joe Biden U.S. Supreme Court Reform We saw this week how well court expansion, term limits and crony judges are working in Venezuela’s economically ruined dictatorship. Warns of threats to democracywants to implement Venezuela’s reforms in the United States
Progressives have been pushing for reform of the Supreme Court ever since the right-wing justices took over the majority. They are not asking for minor tweaks to the Supreme Court. Their demands amount to a complete restructuring. Simply put, if Biden and progressives are successful in implementing reforms, they will fundamentally change the Supreme Court, and the country.
Biden reportedly wants to limit judges’ terms to 18 years and create enforceable ethics rules. Promoting an increase in court staffing Adding at least four new left-leaning justices and establishing a left-leaning majority would make Venezuela the epitome of democracy.
In 2004, strongman President Hugo Chavez managed to pack the country’s highest court, known as the Supreme Court. Human Rights Watch wrote at the time:“Law passed in May expanded the number of justices on the Supreme Court from 20 to 32. In addition to the justices appointed to the 12 new seats, five justices have been appointed to fill vacancies that have opened in recent months, and an additional 32 justices have been appointed as alternate justices of the Supreme Court.”
“Reserve Judge” is a calculated addition, because the same law makes it easier to remove sitting justices and confirm new ones. “The 17 new justices (and 32 alternate justices) were appointed yesterday simply by [sic] Suffice it to say, “The ruling coalition did not reveal the names of the candidates to the opposition until the vote.” Venezuela is not a country that values transparency.
Additionally, Biden reportedly wants to limit judges to 18 terms. Maybe he’s just angry because Democratic elites imposed term limits on him. The move is similar to VenezuelaThe Supreme Court appoints its justices to 12-year terms with no chance of reelection.
Finally, Biden wants to subject judges to some enforceable ethics code, as yet unrevealed. But who would write and enforce that code? Congress? The executive branch? Won’t that violate the U.S. Constitution? Separation of powers in the Constitution? Left wing Justice Elena Kagan recently said: There are many troubling political and professional incentives for a federal judge from a lower court background to be the judge of Supreme Court ethics.
Of course, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the progressive cabal will claim that any reforms they implement will guarantee the Supreme Court’s independence, but Venezuela’s court reformers made the same guarantee. Human Rights Watch noted“In 1999, a Constituent Assembly convened by President Chavez drafted a constitution that guaranteed the independence of the judiciary and the autonomy of the Supreme Court.” That guarantee was no more than the promise of a group of ruthless, power-hungry politicians. In fact, the Supreme Court of Justice is now merely a tool of the executive branch of the government, such as that of President Nicolás Maduro and, before him, Hugo Chavez.
of Arguments from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) The Supreme Court is merely an “agency of the executive branch.” The International Court of Justice has declared that “the Supreme Court has been co-opted by the ruling party, has become an appendage of the executive branch, and has ceased to fulfill its constitutional function as a guarantor of the rule of law, human rights, and fundamental freedoms.” And if Biden, Harris, and progressives are successful in reforming the courts, that is exactly what will happen.
Their goal isn’t to get more justices on the Supreme Court, but to get left justices who support their left-leaning policies. Term limits allow progressives to get rid of conservatives faster so they can get more left justices in. And ethics rules are intended to allow the executive branch to get rid of justices who don’t play the left’s game.
The irony is that Biden has largely resisted calls from progressives to reform the Supreme Court because he (rightly) feared the politicization of the Court. It now appears that he is all for politicizing the Court.
The good news is that Biden’s reforms are highly unlikely to pass. Some of his proposals would require legislation that wouldn’t pass the current House of Representatives. Other reforms would require constitutional amendments, which would be even harder to pass.
Venezuela just held a presidential election, with both Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez declared victory. No one really believes Maduro received a majority of the votes. But once the election is decided by the country’s Supreme Court, it’s clear who the winner will be. That’s why court reform has become a top priority for progressives.
Merrill Matthews is a Resident Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas. Follow him at X@MerrillMatthews.
