Getting Your Breach Body Back

“I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today. I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers. What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.” So said Joe Biden as he endorsed sweeping changes to the Supreme Court including: 18-year term limits, a binding and enforceable ethics code, and a constitutional amendment to prohibit the blanket immunity that the Court just offered to presidents. This stance is a change for Biden, but the Court changed first. During the Trump administration, we learned that the norms and unwritten rules of the past don’t hold when someone is willing to flout them. From recusal refusal, to the acceptance of millions of dollars worth of gifts, to decisions that shock legal analysts, today’s Supreme Court has flouted in a new era of minority rule. That said, Biden’s proposals (for which Kamala Harris has declared her support) have little chance of moving forward. “Term limits and an ethics code are subject to congressional approval, and the Republican-controlled House is unlikely to support either. Both proposals would require 60 votes to pass the Senate, and Democrats only hold 51 seats in the upper chamber. Passing a constitutional amendment requires clearing even more hurdles, including two-thirds support of both chambers, or via a convention of two-thirds of the states, and then approval by three-fourths of state legislatures.” Hence, these moves are as much political as anything. Just like today’s Supreme Court. WaPo (Gift Article): Biden endorses Supreme Court reforms, amendment to limit immunity.