Biden to call for major Supreme Court reforms, including term limits, at Civil Rights Act event Monday

CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden is set to call for major Supreme Court reforms Monday, according to a White House official, a move that would make him the first sitting president in generations to back seismic changes to the way the nation’s highest court operates.

In calling for a constitutional amendment stripping the president of immunity for crimes committed while in office, term limits for Supreme Court justices, and a binding code of conduct for the high court, Biden’s proposed reforms stand little chance of going anywhere with a divided Congress. But it serves as an election-year message designed to excite the Democrats’ progressive base. Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, quickly endorsed the proposed changes, which come at a time of deep unpopularity for the high court.

Biden’s announcement, which he is set to make at an event in Austin, Texas, commemorating the Civil Rights Act, follows this month’s monumental decision by the Supreme Court granting presidents full immunity for some actions taken while in office and after a tide of revelations about justices accepting vacations and gifts from wealthy conservative donors. Democrats on the campaign trail frequently point to the Supreme Court’s conservative majority – solidified by former President Donald Trump – to underscore what they see as the high stakes of the 2024 election.

The White House official said Biden will call for an amendment dubbed the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment,” which will state the Constitution “does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.”

In what would be another major change, Biden will also call for term limits for Supreme Court justices, who serve lifetime appointments.

The reforms Biden is proposing would require congressional approval, which would be difficult to achieve before his term ends, as Republicans control the House and Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate. The constitutional amendment, meanwhile, would require a more complicated process involving the states that seems nearly impossible to succeed.

The reforms, which will face heavy resistance, are meant to “restore trust and accountability when it comes to the presidency and the United States Supreme Court,” the White House official said.

CNN reported this month that Biden was seriously considering endorsing major Supreme Court reforms, actions that liberal lawmakers and groups have been pushing in recent years.

Biden’s proposals drew sharp and swift pushback from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson said the proposal would go nowhere in the House, assuming Republicans retain control of the chamber next year.

“It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the court’s recent decisions,” Johnson said. “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris administration is dead on arrival in the House.”

Leonard Leo, a conservative legal advocate whom Democrats accuse of playing a central role in some of the ethics controversies swirling around the court, also criticized the Biden administration proposals in a rare statement.

“No conservative justice has made any decision in any big case that surprised anyone, so let’s stop pretending this is about undue influence,” Leo said. “It’s about Democrats destroying a court they don’t agree with.”

Leo, board co-chairman of the influential Federalist Society, was subpoenaed by Senate Democrats in April. The Senate Judiciary Committee is seeking to better understand whether specific individuals and groups have used undisclosed gifts to gain access to the justices. Leo called the subpoena “unlawful” and “politically motivated” and told CNN at the time that he was “not capitulating” to that request.

Others praised the administration’s ideas.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee who has proposed legislation to tighten ethics rules at the court, described the Biden announcement as a “strong” proposal.

“This court has proven time after time that it cannot police itself,” he said.

The Monday announcement comes more than three years after Biden created a commission to study structural changes at the Supreme Court, including term limits and proposals to increase the number of justices. The group submitted its report to the White House in late 2021, but the administration did not pursue any of the ideas discussed in the document.

The debate over proposed structural changes at the Supreme Court has become deeply partisan, with Republicans widely opposed. But the issue has drawn renewed attention after it was reported in May that controversial flags were previously hoisted on properties owned by conservative Justice Samuel Alito. Both of the flags were flown by rioters during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, though Alito has denied any connection to that incident and has said his wife hoisted them for different reasons – including a spat with neighbors.

Meanwhile, the court handed down several controversial decisions this summer that drew sharp criticism on the left, including the stunning 6-3 ruling that granted Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Last year, the high court adopted its own code of conduct. But the measure was heavily criticized by ethics experts because it included no way to enforce its requirements. Liberal Justice Elena Kagan defended the code of conduct in remarks last week but also conceded it would be more effective if it included an enforcement mechanism.

Biden’s proposal comes as polling indicates support for the court is hovering near historic lows. A Marquette Law School poll in May found that 61% of Americans disapprove of the job the court is doing. Just four years ago, the same poll found the court had a 66% approval rating.

Democrats have sought to use public disapproval of the court – particularly its 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade – to drive voters. Biden and Harris have made that decision a central part of their campaign arguments, hoping the issue of abortion rights will galvanize voters heading into November.

Harris endorsed the proposed changes in a statement released by her campaign Monday, saying they would “restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law.”

She also said there was a “clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court.”

“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,” Harris wrote. “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.”

Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has resisted calls from his party to expand the court, has become increasingly critical of its makeup. He has described the Supreme Court as “out of kilter” and has warned of the impact a second Trump presidency could have on the nation’s highest court.

Biden, who is making his first trip since bowing out of the 2024 race, will call for the changes at the presidential library honoring President Lyndon B. Johnson, who ended his own reelection bid in 1968. Biden will also use his remarks to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the landmark legislation that cemented Johnson’s legacy.

This story has been updated with additional reaction.

CNN’s MJ Lee and Devan Cole contributed to this report.