by Jorge Gomez • 5 minutes
The Biden administration’s plan to overhaul the U.S. Supreme Court via judicial term limits and an “ethics code” is a desperate attempt to impose a radical agenda by any means necessary. Americans need to know that this whole court “reform” scheme boils down to a thirst for more political power.
“Term limits is pure partisanship, designed to target the most conservative Justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, in an act of pure political revenge,” wrote First Liberty President & CEO Kelly Shackelford in an op-ed for The Daily Citizen. “So-called ‘ethics reform’ isn’t about accountability, transparency, or any other euphemism. It is about giving those angry at decisions based on the actual text of the Constitution the power to punish justices by subjecting them to unrelenting investigations and fabricated scandals.”
First Liberty Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys also noted that this last-ditch effort seems to be about a President desperate to save his political legacy by catering to the extremes of his party.
“President Biden’s lame-duck proposal mainstreaming partisan demands from the far Left to exercise raw power over a separate but equal branch of our government reveals much about our political moment,” Dys wrote for the Washington Times. “More likely, Mr. Biden is desperate to save his political legacy while perhaps rallying the most liberal to turn out in November.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee also exposed the Biden plan as being nothing more than court-packing by a different name. He called it out as a clear attempt to remove conservative Justices and install those favored by the far Left.
“This is court packing by replacement—the first three justices on the chopping block are naturally Republican appointees,” Sen. Hagerty explained in an op-ed. “This proposal amounts to court-packing by elimination.”
“If you can’t win the game, change the rules,” Hagerty added. “Setting aside the false pretense of misleading and debunked ethics allegations and made-up flag controversies, the real reason is that some of the judicial branch’s recent rulings don’t align with Democrats’ policy goals. Period.”
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch stressed the importance of an independent judiciary, which is an essential safeguard for Americans who find themselves in the minority or being unpopular.
“It’s there for the moments when the spotlight’s on you, when the government’s coming after you. And don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions? Isn’t that your right as an American?” Gorsuch said. “And so I just say, be careful.”
Be careful, indeed. While the Biden administration and many on the far Left keep saying this is about “saving democracy,” their proposals would instead turn the Constitution and our judicial system upside down. These radical changes to the nation’s highest court threaten the separation of powers, our civil liberties and the foundations of our Republic.
The Threat of Court-Packing
Nearly 100 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to reform the Supreme Court by expanding it. He almost succeeded. Ironically, one of President Roosevelt’s earliest and most ardent supporters, Sen. Burton Wheeler of Montana, took to the Senate floor to condemn the plan. In an impassioned speech, Sen. Wheeler warned:
“Create now a political court to echo the ideas of the Executive and you have created a weapon. A weapon which, in the hands of another President in times of war or other hysteria, could well be an instrument of destruction. A weapon that can cut down those guaranties of liberty written into your great document by the blood of your forefathers…”
In 1983, then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden (at the time, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee) made an illuminating statement, calling President’s Roosevelt’s plan a “bonehead idea.”
That statement was true when Biden said it 40 years ago…and it’s true today. It’s a terrible and dangerous idea to mess with the judiciary solely for political gain. As soon as you destroy the courts and judicial independence, you might as well say goodbye to your rights. It’s the end of our freedoms as we know them.
“To protect religious freedom and all of our cherished liberties, judges must be able to make decisions without fear of partisan retribution from the executive or legislative branches,” wrote Kelly Shackelford alongside former U.S. Attorney General William Barr in a Fox News op-ed. “Biden and Harris’ ‘court reform’ would destroy that.”
Some on the far Left want to distract Americans and make them think court-packing isn’t being considered right now. But Americans shouldn’t be deceived. Expanding the Supreme Court and adding seats remains a big part of this Supreme Court Coup attempt.
Just this week, a law professor said the quiet part out loud. In an op-ed for The Hill, he wrote that term limits aren’t enough, and that “effective court reform demands court expansion.”
Many think—and are keeping their fingers crossed—that presidential nominee Kamala Harris could pursue more aggressive measures, stating that “she has laid out a more forceful case for institutional reform than perhaps any other recent presidential candidate.”
“We are on the verge of a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court,” Harris told Politico in 2019. “We have to take this challenge head on, and everything is on the table to do that.”
As a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries of 2020, Harris said she would consider court-packing. During a forum in New Hampshire, a moderator asked Harris how she felt about adding as many as four seats to the Supreme Court. The then-senator from California said she was “open to this conversation.”
Don’t believe the radical Left’s euphemisms or word play. Judicial “term limits” and an “ethics” code might sound benign. They’re anything but. Make no mistake. This is just radical court-packing by a different name.
Biden tried his hand at court-packing during the first years of his administration. He failed. Why? Because the American people resoundingly reject packing the Supreme Court.
Polling conducted in 2021, 2022 and 2023 consistently showed that about 68% oppose court-packing / expanding the size of the Court.
Even Biden’s Supreme Court Reform Commission—after months of deliberation—couldn’t recommend court-packing.
Knowing that pushing for court-packing outright (again) would be a failure, Biden and the far Left are now putting a disguise on extreme, sweeping, destructive changes to our judicial system.
The last thing we need in this country right now is a Supreme Court Coup. Whether it’s court-packing, ending lifetime tenure for federal judges, or giving Congress “oversight” of the Court’s internal business, all of these proposals would be catastrophic. The rule of law will be over and judicial independence will be destroyed. This would be the gateway to tyranny in America.
Read More:
New York Post: The Biden-Harris plan to wreck the Supreme Court is the REAL threat to America’s democratic system
The American Prospect: Kamala Harris Has Already Made the Case for Court Expansion
Daily Signal: Democrats Promise to Save ‘Democracy’ by Destroying Supreme Court
Washington Post: Opinion | Term Limits for the Supreme Court Would End Our Independent Judiciary
Fox News: Gorsuch has stern message when asked about Biden Supreme Court proposals: ‘Be careful’
The Atlantic: The Case Against Biden’s Supreme Court
USA Today: Bad-idea Biden strikes again: His terrible Supreme Court reforms would hurt our democracy
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