Biden to push for major Supreme Court reform as he seeks campaign momentum: report

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is planning to support major changes to the Supreme Court, according to multiple media reports, including backing term-limits for lifetime-appointed justices and an aggressive ethics code.

The moves would mark a seismic shift for Biden − who until now has resisted a structural overhaul of the nation's highest court − while he looks to energize the left progressive flank of his party before the November election.

Yet each of the measures will likely have no shot of passage in a divided Congress. The measures would need 60 votes in the Senate to block a Republican filibuster.

The Washington Post, citing two people briefed on the plans, was the first to report on the moves. The proposals could also include calling for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other federal officeholders. It would be a response to the Supreme Court's ruling this month that Trump is protection from criminal prosecution for actions taken in his "official" capacity as president.

More:In historic ruling on presidential immunity, Supreme Court says Trump can be tried for private acts

Biden, in a phone call Saturday with member of the House Progressive Caucus, relayed his plans to back the changes, according to a transcript obtained and reported by the Post.

'I'm going to need your help on the Supreme Court'

"I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court, because I’m about to come out − I don’t want to prematurely announce it − but I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court. … I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need some help,” Biden told the progressive House members, according to the Post.

While about two dozen House Democrats have called for Biden to withdraw from the election after his disastrous June 27 debate, progressive lawmakers have stood behind Biden. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, a leading progressive, last week filed articles of impeachment against conservative Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over alleged ethics violations and political bias.

CNN, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the deliberations, reported Biden is "seriously considering" pursuing the Supreme Court changes.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Although the details of the proposed term-limits aren't clear, eight Democratic senators have proposed legislation that would limit Supreme Court terms to 18 years, with a new justice being appointed every two years.

The proposed ethics changes follow reports last year that detailed lavish travel that Thomas accepted from GOP donor Harlan Crow, as well as revelations that Justice Samuel Alito flew to Alaska for a fishing trip on a private jet in 2008 that belonged to a hedge fund manager who repeatedly brought cases before the high court.

More recently, Alito has faced scrutiny from Democrats following news reports that two controversial flags that are symbols in right-wing circles were flown at his family residences.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., last year introduced legislation with other Democrats that would require the Supreme Court to impose the code of conduct for federal judges to Supreme Court justices, ban justices from owning conflicting assets and cap the monetary value of gifts justices can receive.

Biden not pushing expanding the Supreme Court

One hot-button proposal that has long been kicked around is not on Biden's agenda, according to the reports: expanding the size of the nine-member Supreme Court, which many liberals have long supported.

The court is currently a 6-3 conservative majority after Trump appointed three justices to the court while Biden appointed only one, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

More:Biden says he knows what a ‘Black job’ is. It’s vice president of the United States.

Biden and Democrats have become increasingly vocal with their criticism of the court, which has overturned many long-held precedents in short order − most notably, the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade's constitutional right to an abortion.

"There has never been a court that’s so far out of step," Biden said at a June 16 Hollywood fundraiser with former President Barack Obama and several celebrities.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.