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Kamala Harris has backed a sweeping set of reforms to the Supreme Court proposed by President Joe Biden as the standing of America’s highest judicial institution emerges as a flashpoint in November’s election.
“In the course of our nation’s history, trust in the Supreme Court of the United States has been critical to achieving equal justice under law,” Harris said in a statement on Monday.
“Yet today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent,” she added.
Her comments came as Biden travelled to Texas to announce the reforms at the Lyndon B Johnson presidential library in Austin, the state capital, while commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Biden’s plans included setting term limits for justices, who enjoy lifetime appointments. Instead, he proposed that presidents appoint justices every two years for 18-year terms.
He also called for a binding code of conduct to prevent conflicts of interest, such as disclosing gifts and refraining from engaging in openly political activities. The plans would also force justices to recuse themselves from cases if their spouse had a financial or other related interest.
However, the proposals are unlikely to pass Congress given Republicans control the House of Representatives. “It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the court’s recent decisions. This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris administration is dead on arrival in the House,” said House speaker Mike Johnson.
But Biden’s move still represents a big step for a president who has long resisted a shake-up of the country’s highest court.
“We live in a different era,” the president said. “In recent years, extreme opinions the Supreme Court has headed down have undermined long established civil rights principles and protections.”
The Supreme Court has come under attack, particularly from Democrats, following a series of controversial rulings by its conservative majority in recent years, including a landmark decision in 2022 that struck down nationwide abortion protections.
Biden also called for a constitutional amendment denying US presidents immunity from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. The effort is a direct rebuke to Donald Trump, who has insisted on his immunity for actions taken while in office, as well as the Supreme Court, which recently ruled that he could be afforded some immunity for official acts. That decision could affect ongoing cases against him on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling classified documents.
Biden did not go as far as some Democrats, who have called for an expansion of the number of Supreme Court justices to offset the body’s current 6-3 conservative slant.
But his proposals are a response to ethical questions that have dogged staunchly conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who have accepted lavish gifts and luxury trips from wealthy friends while on the bench and are closely aligned with Republican political causes.
According to a Gallup poll conducted in September, 58 per cent of respondents disapproved of the way the Supreme Court was handling its job, while 41 per cent approved.
On Monday, two protesters in front of the Supreme Court cheered on Biden’s proposals. Robin Galbraith, a 60-year-old retired school teacher, was holding a sign that read “Scotus gave their sugardaddies everything they wanted”.
“It’s a good first step,” said Galbraith, who was on her 331st day of protest before the high court. “I am glad to see a US president taking it seriously.”
When asked about the low probability that the measures would ever pass, she said that with a general election looming, Biden’s move “gives motivation for people to look at what each party is saying” about the court.
