Biden's SCOTUS critiques largely unprecedented, experts say, contrast with Clinton's deference in 2000
FOX NewsJul 18
Report: Biden Considering Reforms to SCOTUS
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Above: Chief Justice John Roberts and current associate justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson at U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on February 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Chip Somodevilla/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Reports from the Washington Post and Associated Press claim that US Pres. Joe Biden is preparing to propose major reforms to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), which could include term limits, an enforceable ethics code, and a restriction on presidential immunity.
The plans were disclosed to members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus during a call on Saturday. Biden reportedly said that he is "about to come out" with the reform plan, which he says has been in the works for three months.
The Spin
Republican narrative
These reports of a shocking, last-ditch effort to manipulate the court to be more favorable to the president's radical progressive agenda are unsurprising. Now that Biden is facing discontent in his own party, he has promised to politicize the court to appease the progressive wing of the party. The Democrats are inching dangerously close to destroying judicial independence entirely.
Democratic narrative
SCOTUS has taken a hard-right turn in the past few years, and it is high time for someone to step in and correct this. Polling shows that a majority of Americans have lost trust in the court, which makes it incumbent on Congress to step in and reverse that worrying trend and end the blatant partisanship and untouchability of the justices. An ethics code with teeth is the least that can be done.
