AUSTIN, TX — President Joe Biden on Monday called for major Supreme Court reforms, a move that would make him the first sitting president in generations to support changes to the nation’s highest court.
Speaking from the LBJ Presidential Library to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, Biden touted his administration’s work to protect civil right and called on Congress to do more to restore the trust of the Supreme Court.
“This nation was founded on the principle there are no kings in America, each of us is equal before the law,” Biden said. “Just imagine what a president could do, trampling civil rights and liberties, given such immunity. The court is being used to weaponize an extreme and unchecked agenda.”
“We need these reforms to restore trust in the courts, preserve the system of checks and balances that are vital to our democracy,” he added.
The President also called for a constitutional amendment that he wants passed that says no former presidents should have any immunity from federal criminal indictments, trials, convictions or sentencing.
“And most recently and most shockingly, the Supreme Court established in Trump vs. the United States a dangerous precedent,” Biden said. “They ruled, as you know, that the president of the United States has immunity for potential crimes he may have committed while in office, immunity. This nation is founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each of us is equal before the law. No one is above the law!”
“I share our Founders’ belief that the president must answer to the law,” he added.
Biden also called for term limits for Supreme Court justices, who currently serve lifetime appointments.
“Term limits would help ensure that the court membership changes with some regularity,” Biden said. “That would make timing for the court’s nomination more predictable and less arbitrary, and reduce the chance that any single presidency imposes undue influence on generations to come.”
Biden’s proposals face an uphill battle of becoming law with a divided Congress as Republicans control the House and Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate.
