On Monday, President Joe Biden released his “bold new plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law.” The alleged purpose behind this plan is to strengthen American democracy and protect the rule of law. As expected, Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, supports this plan. In reality, this plan does not strengthen democracy, nor does it protect the rule of law. Rather, it is another attempt by this administration to circumvent/ignore the Supreme Court and is disingenuous and entirely agenda driven.
Biden’s plan consists of three proposed reforms. They include removing all immunity for crimes a president commits while in office, term limits for Supreme Court Justices, and a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court. The focus will be on the first two proposals.
The proposal relating to immunity is clearly in response to the Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision, where the Court correctly ruled that a president has immunity (absolute or presumptive depending on the circumstances) from criminal prosecution.
Biden’s proposal to remove such immunity is not the result of his deep-rooted and genuine desire to strengthen democracy or protect the rule of law. If he sincerely wanted to do this, he would accept and comply with the Court’s ruling as opposed to proposing a plan to circumvent or disregard it in its entirety. Biden, of course, has a history of disregarding Supreme Court precedent, as he ignored the Court’ ruling relating to the eviction moratorium as well as the ruling on the student loan forgiveness.
The real reason behind Biden’s first proposal is to further his agenda. In this case, the agenda was, and continues to be, to destroy Donald Trump so he is unable to run against Biden. To do so, Biden, the Department of Justice, and Attorney General Merrick Garland transformed the legal system into a weapon that was utilized against its political opponents, including Trump. The sinister plans were clear from day one. Indict Donald Trump on various charges and in multiple jurisdictions, most of which are strongly anti-Trump, keep Trump busy during the primaries and/or general election, deplete him of funds, bankrupt him, put him away for life, and/or try to prevent him from taking office by way of the Fourteenth Amendment.
To Biden’s dismay, the Supreme Court issued three very important rulings that pushed back against and/or defeated the Democrats’ dangerous interpretations of the law and Constitution and their politicized/weaponized use of the justice system. Specifically, in addition to the immunity decision, the Supreme Court rejected efforts to remove Trump’s name from the ballot(s) and rejected the Democrats’ interpretation of an official proceeding regarding January 6 (Fischer case).
Biden’s first proposal is does not strengthen American democracy and protect the rule of law. Rather, it seeks to destroy democracy by circumventing the rule of law solely because it interferes with his agenda to take down Trump.
The second proposal seeking to impose term limits on Supreme Court Justices is highly unlikely because Article III of the Constitution grants Justices a lifetime tenure (some argue that this is not the case because this specific language is not in the Constitution, which only states that Justices “shall hold their offices during good behavior.”) and would it likely require a constitutional amendment, a very arduous process.
Notwithstanding, the motivation behind this proposal mirrors the motivation behind the first proposal. Biden (and many Democrats) disapprove of many of the Court’s decisions, including but not limited to the ones mentioned above. They have, on various occasion, threatened to pack the Court or to impeach or remove various conservative Justices, not because the Court has threatened democracy or the rule of law, but because the Court has protected democracy and the rule of law.
Biden’s proposal to impose term limits is just another attempt to promote his politicized agenda. His claim that term limits are necessary to “reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come” is mere lip service based on what Trump has endured, Biden’s disregard of some Supreme Court precedent, and Democrats’ threats to pack the Court and/or impeach/remove conservative Justices.
Given the current breakdown in Congress, Biden’s plan should quickly fail. However, it provides a blueprint of Democrats would likely do to the Supreme Court if they maintained control of the White House and controlled Congress.
Biden is correct in saying that there is a “crisis in confidence in America’s democratic institutions.” However, the underlying cause of this distrust is not the Supreme Court, but Biden efforts to weaponize and politicize these institutions against his political opponents.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court pushed back against these efforts. In doing so, the Supreme Court took the first step in restoring Americans’ faith in the justice system at a time when it was at its lowest, and protecting democracy and the rule of law.
Mr. Hakim is an attorney and columnist. His articles have been published in The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, American Thinker, and other online publications. He has also appeared on OANN’s Tipping Point, Newsmax, Steadfast and Loyal Podcast with Allen West, The Dave Weinbaum Show, and Real America’s Voice. The views expressed herein are the author’s own and do not constitute legal advice.