According to two unnamed officials who spoke with The Washington Post, Biden will support term limits for the court’s nine justices and an enforceable code of ethics. Last year, Congress passed an updated ethics code, but it lacked meaningful enforcement mechanisms. In a move aimed at reversing a recent Supreme Court decision, Biden is also considering endorsing a constitutional amendment to end immunity for presidents and other federal officeholders. Biden announced the plan this past weekend during a Zoom call with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, according to the Post. “I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court, because I’m about to come out — I don’t want to prematurely announce it — but I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court. … I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need some help,” he told lawmakers. The changes proposed by Biden would require congressional approval, a challenging prospect given the Republican-majority House and the slim Democratic majority in the Senate. Under current rules, passage in the Senate requires at least 60 votes. While Democrats plot to re-make the Court into a body more favorable to their interests, questions remain over the degree to which Congress can impose changes in how the Court functions. These questions arise over separation of powers constraints built into the U.S. governance system. Last year, Alito stated, “Congress did not create the Supreme Court — the Constitution did. I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it. No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period.” When asked if the other eight justices agreed, he replied, “I don’t know that any of my colleagues have spoken about it publicly, so I don’t think I should say. But I think it is something we have all thought about.” Despite these challenges, some progressive activists and advocates remain steadfast in their efforts to shift the balance of the Court with more appointees by Democratic presidents. “Reforming this broken court is imperative – not just for protecting the hard-won rights of the last century, but for making any progress as a nation in the future,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of the group Take Back the Court. “While ethics rules and term limits alone cannot fully restore balance and independence, [Biden’s] announcement is a watershed moment in the fight to take back the court.”President Joe Biden is finalizing a plan to endorse sweeping changes to the U.S. Supreme Court, marking what could be the first major shift in the court's operations in decades.
The proposed changes follow outrage within the Democratic Party over:
As Martha Kinsella of The Brennan Center notes, Congress has historically imposed various regulatory measures on the nation's highest court, including legislation on ethics, retirement, and compensation.
