PoliticsMonday 07.29.24

“They decided time has come to eliminate the Supreme Court as we know it": McConnell on Biden pushing SCOTUS reforms.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday characterized President Joe Biden’s proposed U.S. Supreme Court reforms as an attempt to “eliminate” the court.

“They decided the time has come to eliminate the Supreme Court as we know it,” the Kentucky Republican, who was instrumental in securing the court’s shift to the right, said in a floor speech in the afternoon.

In an op-ed published in the Washington Post in the morning, Biden called for term limits for SCOTUS justices, an ethics code for the high court, and a constitutional amendment that states presidents are not immune from prosecution for crimes committed during their presidency. None of the proposals are expected to go into effect since all three would need to be approved by divided Congress, and any constitutional amendment would need significant Republican support, which is seen as a nonstarter with the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority. Biden said reforming the court will be a major focus of the remainder of his term.

In his speech, McConnell argued that Biden’s suggestions were affronts to the U.S. Constitution and the separation of powers.

“In his op-ed, the president says he wants term limits to his own justices. Never mind what the Constitution says. Never mind the advice and consent role of the Senate,” McConnell said. “President Biden and his leftist allies don't like the current composition of the court, so they want to shred the Constitution to change it.

“He wants what he calls an ethics code, but that already exists. What the president is actually proposing is a stealth process for people other than the justices to decide cases. Again, the Constitution be damned.”

Recount Wire

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