Biden proposes sweeping US Supreme Court reforms

On July 29, 2024, 7:34 PM

US President Joe Biden on Monday set to propose sweeping reforms to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court.

The proposals include term limits and a binding code of conduct for the court’s nine justices, who serve for life. They will also include a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad presidential immunity.

It is believed that the measures are unlikely to pass, with Congress closely divided and only 99 days to go ahead of the US presidential election.

Biden is due to present the proposal during a speech at the presidential library of former President Lyndon B. Johnson in Austin, Texas.

What do we know about the proposed reforms?
The US president wants to impose “binding, enforceable” rules that oblige justices to disclose gifts and refrain from public political activity. Justices would also be required to recuse themselves from cases where they or their spouses have conflicts of interest.

The White House has also said Biden’s reforms include as well an 18-year term limit for justices. This would “reduce the chance that any single presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come.”

Moreover, Biden is proposing a constitutional amendment that clarifies that ex-presidents are not guaranteed immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction or sentencing.

“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 said in an opinion piece published on Monday.

“What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.”

What prompted the proposed reforms?
The top court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Three of its judges were appointed during Donald Trump’s presidential term.

The court took the world by storm in 2022 when it overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that had underpinned the federal right to abortion. It has also taken other decisions that blocked Biden’s agenda on immigration, student loans, vaccine mandates and climate change.

Earlier this year, it significantly scaled back the power of federal agencies. In early July, the court ruled in favor of Republican presidential nominee Trump’s immunity claims, under the pretext of being an ex-president.

Trump is now using the top court’s ruling to challenge his criminal conviction in New York hush money case, among other prosecutions.

The court has also suffered a string of scandals among its conservative justices. One of its justices, Clarence Thomas, has admitted he took two luxury vacations in 2019 funded by a billionaire Republican political donor.