President Joe Biden has officially announced his plan to overhaul the United States Supreme Court, sharing his proposed agenda in an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Monday.
In his op-ed, Biden discussed the changes he would like to see the court go through, as he says it is “mired in a crisis of ethics.”
Among the changes that Biden would like to impose on the court include term limits for justices and a binding code of conduct.
Biden discussed these changes and addressed the court’s recent decision to grant Trump broad immunity for any crimes committed in office, as long as they are deemed official acts.
Many, including Biden, have been critical of this ruling, with many expecting Biden to support changes to the court because of it.
“This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one,” Biden wrote. “But the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on July 1 to grant presidents broad immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit in office means there are virtually no limits on what a president can do.
“The only limits will be those that are self-imposed by the person occupying the Oval Office.”
Biden is now calling for a No One Is Above The Law Amendment that “will state that the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.”
As for the other changes, he is proposing term limits for Supreme Court Justices, arguing that the president be able to appoint a new justice every two years, who then would spend 18 years in active service on the court.
Additionally, the president is pushing for a binding code of conduct, writing that its current voluntary ethics code is “weak and self-enforced.”
“Justices should be required to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. Every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct, and there is no reason for the Supreme Court to be exempt,” he wrote.
Biden directly addressed the possibility of former President Trump returning to office, saying that his future actions may go without consequence unless action is taken.
“If a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power — like we saw on Jan. 6, 2021 — there may be no legal consequences,” Biden wrote.
Biden says that a “majority” of Americans support the reforms he laid out in his op-ed and that the changes would prevent any potential abuse of presidential power.
“We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power. We can and must restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Court. We can and must strengthen the guardrails of democracy,” Biden wrote.
“In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule.”