Biden proposes term limits for Supreme Court

President Joe Biden departs after delivering remarks on the Supreme Court's immunity ruling at the White House

"What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public's confidence in the court's decisions," Biden said

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

published July 30, 2024

What happened

President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled a set of legislative reforms designed to "restore the public's faith in our judicial system" through term limits, an enforceable code of ethics for U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and rollbacks of the expansive presidential immunity granted to Donald Trump last month.

"What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public's confidence in the court's decisions," Biden said in an opinion piece for The Washington Post. In addition to supporting 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices and a binding code of ethics, Biden raised the ratification of a new "No One Is Above the Law" constitutional amendment to "make clear that there is no immunity for crimes a former president committed while in office."

Biden's proposals are part of a Democratic effort to "delegitimize the Supreme Court" and are "dead on arrival" in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. The reforms are an "election-year message designed to excite the Democrats' progressive base" during a time of "deep unpopularity for the high court," CNN said.

Even if Democrats retake the House next year, they're "unlikely to have the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster" of any laws reflecting Biden's proposals, Politico said. A constitutional amendment would be "even more difficult, needing two-thirds support from both chambers of Congress or from a convention called by two-thirds of the states, as well as the approval of three-fourths of state legislatures."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.