According to a report, President Biden will propose several changes to the U.S. Constitution on Monday as part of his promise to reform the Supreme Court. This marks a shift from his previous resistance to such changes. On Wednesday, Biden stated that Supreme Court reform is now one of his top priorities for the rest of his term. Following pressure from Democratic Party officials and his poorly received debate performance in June, Biden announced on Sunday that he would not seek re-election.
The president is expected to suggest setting term limits for Supreme Court justices, which would necessitate a constitutional amendment, and creating an enforceable code of ethics, which Congress could implement, according to Politico.
Biden is also anticipated to support a constitutional amendment to limit immunity for presidents and other officeholders, following a July court ruling that presidents cannot be prosecuted for “official acts” during their tenure. This ruling originated from a case involving former President Trump.
Amending the Constitution is intentionally challenging; a proposed amendment needs a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate and must be ratified by three-fourths (38) of the 50 states.
“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 following the court’s opinion.
Politico noted that the specifics of the proposal are not finalized and may change. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an Oval Office address on Wednesday explaining his decision not to run in 2024, Biden emphasized that Supreme Court reform is “critical to our democracy.”
“Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president. That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hard-working families, grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I’ll keep calling out hate and extremism, make it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever, period. I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis, is the existential threat,” Biden said.
“And I will keep fighting for my cancer moonshot, so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. And I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy, Supreme Court reform. You know, I will keep working to ensure America remains strong and secure and the leader of the free world.”
