No mention of term limits for Representatives and Senators….remember, Joe was a Senator from 1973 until January 2009, when he took office as VP…nor any explanation on how Joe’s plan actually comports with the Constitution
Biden set to announce support for major Supreme Court changes
President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans.
He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and other constitutional officeholders, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The announcement would mark a major shift for Biden, a former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has long resisted calls to make substantive changes to the high court. The potential changes come in response to growing outrage among his supporters about recent ethics scandals surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas and decisions by the new court majority that have changed legal precedent on issues including abortion and federal regulatory powers.
Biden previewed the shift in a Zoom call Saturday with the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Right, right, and how would this work?
“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 said, according to a transcript of the call obtained by The Washington Post.
Term limits and an ethics code would be subject to congressional approval, which would face long odds in the Republican-controlled House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate. Under current rules, passage in the Senate would require 60 votes. A constitutional amendment requires even more hurdles, including two-thirds support of both chambers, or by a convention of two-thirds of the states, and then approval by three-fourths of state legislatures.
I’m using the Washington Post article, because pretty much every other article feeds off this article, and nowhere does it mention that the Constitution pretty much establishes that the only way to remove a Supreme Court justice is to impeach them if they are not engaged in Good Behavior, per Article 3 Section 1. Or pass a Constitutional amendment
(National Judicial College) Many judges pointed out that term limits may be a moot proposition because the Constitution appears to give Supreme Court justices lifetime appointments. It would take a constitutional amendment to change that, and with the country so evenly divided politically, amending the Constitution appears impossible for the foreseeable future.
Good Behavior doesn’t mean removal for rulings people do not like, it means criminal behavior, like storing classified documents they have no right to have in the garage next to the Corvette
Several judges also took a cynical view of the proposal, seeing it as an attempt at decisional manipulation.
“So you disagree with the opinions of the justices on the court and now you want term limits? This is precisely why lifetime appointments are so important,” one unnamed judge wrote. “Someone has to protect the Constitution.”
Further, how would this work? Democrats have been pushing for a rotating 18 year limit
“An 18-year limit would enable a regular and planned refresh of the court and avoid the political upheaval associated with sudden death and which party is in power,” declared one anonymous judge.
But Judge Eugene M. Velazco, Jr. of the Merrillville, Indiana, Town Court was skeptical.
He imagined a scenario in which a president could name two candidates during an initial four-year term and two more in a second term. “You could also go long periods of time without a full bench because an opposing party from the president in the Senate could block the selection.”
That could end up being bad for one party or the other. Further, it wouldn’t start for quite some time, so, Dems would have to deal with the Conservatives on the Court ruling for the Constitution for almost 2 decades before this starts.
And, really, is this what people care about? It’s low hanging fruit, especially with the inflation, high prices of food, housing, and more, wars raging that could get much, much worse, illegal aliens who came in record numbers, and other issues. Will the Democrats spend a lot of time whining about the Supreme Court at their convention? I guess we’ll see.
Read: Biden Is Supposedly Going To Push For Term Limits For Supreme Court »