The White House defended President Joe Biden‘s Supreme Court overhaul plans against a host of harsh questions Tuesday, with one reporter asking if the plan was “just an election year gambit.”
“What we’re seeing right now is not normal,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the high court’s recent rulings. “A majority of Americans agree with us. What we’re seeing at the Supreme Court is not normal. The president spoke to that at length.”
Biden unveiled a trio of proposals this week: 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices, a constitutional amendment to overturn the court’s recent presidential immunity decision, and a “binding” ethics code. None of the ideas stand a serious chance of becoming law, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declaring each of them “dead on arrival” in Congress.
During remarks Monday in Austin, Texas, Biden shot back that, “I think his thinking is dead on arrival,” a nod to the political nature of the move.
The president has also done little to engage congressional Democrats on the proposals, leading to questions about whether the overhaul is a serious policy measure or simply a messaging exercise.
Jean-Pierre responded by again saying the reforms are popular and pointing to a handful of conservative scholars who have said they support term limits.
“In the past several weeks, the actions that the Supreme Court has taken in undermining democracy and the rule of law — that’s important,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president felt he needed to address this.”
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It is unclear if the term limits Biden supports would also apply to current justices, who enjoy lifetime appointments under the law. Each of the three longest-tenured members of the court, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts, was appointed by Republican presidents and has been on the court for more than 18 years.
“The president and the vice president believe that the rule of law is the foundation of our democracy,” Jean-Pierre said. “It is the foundation of our democracy, which is why the president took action yesterday and he’s calling on Congress to do the same. What we welcome is a debate.”