President Joe Biden’s latest salvo against the Supreme Court is a desperate, partisan move that is doomed to fail. As a lame duck president, his proposals are more of a nuisance than a legitimate threat, but they still reflect poorly on his already tarnished legacy.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) aptly described Biden’s plan as “dead on arrival,” prompting a characteristically clumsy response from the president. Biden’s retort, “I think that’s what he is,” was particularly tone-deaf, coming just two weeks after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.
Biden’s proposals themselves are just as flawed as his rhetoric. He falsely claimed that a recent Supreme Court decision granted the president unlimited power, when in fact, the court reaffirmed the principle that presidents cannot act outside their constitutional authority. The decision, which upheld the precedent set in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, actually limits the president’s power, not expands it.
Biden’s call for 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices is also misguided. Such a move would require a constitutional amendment, which is unlikely to pass. The Constitution explicitly grants Supreme Court justices life tenure, and any attempt to circumvent this through legislation would be unconstitutional. The Founding Fathers deliberately designed the judicial branch to be independent, and Biden’s proposal would undermine that independence.
Furthermore, Biden’s proposal for a “binding code of conduct” for the Supreme Court is unnecessary and unconstitutional. The judicial branch already has its own ethics guidelines, and parties can file complaints against federal judges, which can be heard by other judges and potentially reach the Supreme Court. Congress lacks the authority to impose its own ethics standards on the Supreme Court, and doing so would be bad policy.
Biden’s motives for proposing these changes are transparently partisan. As a senator, he had 36 years to advocate for reform, but only now, when the court is trending conservative, does he see a need for change. The Democratic Party and the Left are attacking the Supreme Court because they want to regain control, not because they genuinely care about reform.
Biden’s actions are a last-ditch attempt to stay relevant as he is pushed aside by his own party. With just three months until Election Day, he has chosen to latch onto a hopeless, partisan issue rather than leaving office with dignity. Unfortunately, dignity has never been a hallmark of Biden’s career.
