President Joe Biden is accusing the current conservative Supreme Court of 'extreme opinions' as he calls for reforms, but critics say his proposal to change the court is more about election-year politics.
Biden defended his plan to overhaul the Supreme Court at the L.B.J. Presidential Library in Austin, Texas on Monday. He called for term limits of 18 years for the justices and a binding code of conduct.
"The Supreme Court's current ethics code is weak and even more frightening, voluntary," Biden said.
He also pitched a constitutional amendment to limit the presidential immunity that was established by the high court earlier this month. "I'm certain we need these reforms," Biden said.
Congressional Republican leaders slammed his proposal with Sen. Lindsey Graham calling it dead on arrival.
"The Roberts court has brought constitutional balance back to the court, and the liberals in this country want to pack the court, they want to destroy the court. So their initiatives coming from Biden will be dead on arrival. They have no desire to make the Court better they just want to make it more liberal," Graham said.
Legal scholars say this is about the political left's discontent with recent Supreme Court decisions including the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
"Trying to just change the Court to get people to vote the way you want them to is a really bad answer because all you're doing is opening yourself up to the other side doing the same thing in 4 years," said Brad Jacob, Associate Dean for Academic Programs at Regent University.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) applauded Biden's plan. "I believe the president is right to say aloud what many Americans already think: The Supreme Court is a morass," Schumer said.
It comes as the new race for the White House is heating up after Biden dropped out. With the proposal unlikely to pass, some believe it's really about stirring up the Democrat vote.
"That the Supreme Court would be used by the left as a political tool or a political weapon, I think is shameful. Our republican democracy here requires judicial independence," said Jeremy Dys of First Liberty Institute.
The latest national polls show the presidential race tightening, though former President Trump still has a lead over Vice President Kamala Harris. At a private fundraiser, Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance reportedly said Harris is a stronger candidate than Biden because she's younger and doesn't face the same struggles as the president. But Trump argues Harris is too "ultra-liberal."
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