(UPDATED)President Joe Biden: “We Can and Must Restore the Public’s Faith in the Supreme Court”; Vice President Harris Reacts

In a penned op-ed in the Washington Post, President Joe Biden advocated for long overdue reforms to the United States Supreme Court.

Clearly motivated by the decisions of this Trump-redesigned court that in the last two years has overturned Roe v Wade and made monarchical considerations for Presidents who can claim immunity for their actions, the President started off his piece with:

“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.”

Blasting the decision on Presidential immunity, Mr. Biden noted:

“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. And that’s only the beginning.”

The President also cited the ethical lapses of, without naming them, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, writing:

“Scandals involving several justices have caused the public to question the court’s fairness and independence, which are essential to faithfully carrying out its mission of equal justice under the law. For example, undisclosed gifts to justices from individuals with interests in cases before the court, as well as conflicts of interest connected with Jan. 6 insurrectionists, raise legitimate questions about the court’s impartiality.”

Concluding that:

“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. That’s why — in the face of increasing threats to America’s democratic institutions — I am calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability to the court and our Democracy.”

Among the reforms Mr. Biden advocated for:

• A Constitutional Amendment called No One is Above the Law Amendment where “It would make clear that there is no immunity for crimes a former president committed while in office. I share our Founders’ belief that the president’s power is limited, not absolute. We are a nation of laws — not of kings or dictators.”
• Citing that Presidents have been limited to two full terms, the President called for term limits for Supreme Court Justices to 18 years.
• An ethics code of conduct for the Justices, noting “The court’s current voluntary ethics code is 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.”

The President wrote that the majority of the American People support these common-sense reforms.

He closed his op-ed with:

“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. In America, no one is above the law. In America, the people rule.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, through a Harris for President press release, supported the President’s position, noting:

“In the course of our Nation’s history, trust in the Supreme Court of the United States has been critical to achieving equal justice under law. President Biden and I strongly believe that the American people must have confidence in the Supreme Court. Yet today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent.

That is why President Biden and I are calling on Congress to pass important reforms – from imposing term limits for Justices’ active service, to requiring Justices to comply with binding ethics rules just like every other federal judge. And finally, in our democracy, no one should be above the law. So we must also ensure that no former President has immunity for crimes committed while in the White House. 

These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law.”

Please click below to watch President Biden’s address on Supreme Court Reform at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library.