The rhetoric surrounding the highest court in the land has reached a fever pitch. Now it’s gone way over the line.
Because a shocking attack on the Supreme Court just put Washington, D.C. on edge.
Reform or Revolution?
President Biden has brazenly revealed his radical plan to overhaul the Supreme Court, with the transparent goal of curtailing the powers of former President Donald Trump should he return to office.
In a move that raised eyebrows, Biden announced his sweeping policy changes through an op-ed in the Washington Post, which felt the need to clarify to readers: “The writer is president of the United States.”
Biden outlined three major changes, accusing the court of being “mired in a crisis of ethics,” and proposed term limits along with a binding code of conduct.
The crux of Biden’s argument was his outrage over the court’s recent decision to grant Trump broad immunity for any crimes committed while in office.
“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.”
Sweating over Trump’s return
Biden’s alarm over Trump potentially regaining power was palpable: “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.”
Beyond his so-called No One Is Above The Law Amendment, Biden proposed term limits for Supreme Court justices, suggesting that a new justice be appointed every two years, serving an 18-year term on the high court.
He also pushed for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court, deriding the current voluntary ethics code as “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 claimed that a “majority” of Americans support these reforms, which he asserts would prevent the abuse of presidential powers.
“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.
He concluded his op-ed with lofty rhetoric: “In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule.”
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
