by First Liberty Institute • 3 minutes
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has introduced a bill that could destroy the judicial power the Constitution grants the U.S. Supreme Court.
Schumer and 23 other members of his party introduced the so-called “No Kings Act” earlier this month, which aims to undo the Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity. The name may be clever and sound benign, but the provisions are dangerous. As Jason Willick explains in an op-ed for The Washington Post, the bill would “vitiate the Supreme Court’s role as a meaningful actor in the constitutional order.”
The legislation is just the latest attack on the Court in recent weeks. In fact, it was introduced only days after President Biden announced his plan to “reform” the Supreme Court by ending life tenure for justices and imposing a “code of ethics.”
The bill stipulates that “a court of the United States may not consider whether an alleged violation of the criminal laws of the United States committed by a President or Vice President was within the conclusive or preclusive constitutional authority of a President or Vice President or was related to the official duties of a President or Vice President unless directed by Congress.”
In short, the measure would declare that there is no legal immunity for former presidents or vice presidents for actions taken while in office. Further, it would allow the U.S. Department of Justice to charge former presidents or vice presidents with crimes in any district court in the country.
But that’s not the most radical portion. The legislation strips the Supreme Court of its authority to rule on the constitutionality of the immunity provision of the bill. Instead, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit would have the final say.
The problem, Willick explains, is that the D.C. Circuit was “presumably chosen because it has a greater share of judges appointed by Democratic presidents than the Supreme Court.”
“In other words, a favored appellate court would become the Supreme Court for the purposes of this bill, with direction from Democrats to not look too closely at the constitutional particulars,” Willick says.
First Liberty President and CEO Kelly Shackelford explains why this legislation would delegitimize the highest court in the nation and completely undermine the Constitution. Watch below:
In an interview with the Daily Caller, legal and constitutional experts around the country called the bill a brazen attack on the Constitution and the separation of powers.
Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson exposed the bill as just “the latest salvo in the Democrats’ war on the Supreme Court.”
“Overruling the Court — through unconstitutional means such as a statute — show the disregard progressives hold for a co-equal branch of government,” said John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
“It fits with the call to place term limits on the Justices, which Biden proposes and Harris supports, or even to pack the Court, which Harris called for in 2020,” Yoo added. “It is an obvious threat, even if it never passes, against the Court simply because progressives disagree with the Court’s interpretation of the Constitution.”
“None of that is constitutional,” according to Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute.
“Senate Democrats are going all-in on destroying the judiciary as we know it,” said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. “This is not some sort of fringe proposal from the Squad, but was introduced as a priority bill by the Majority Leader.”
“Once the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction is stripped for presidential immunity,” Blackman warned, “it is only a matter of time before similar bills are passed for abortion, the Second Amendment, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and so on. This bottomless hole keeps going deeper.”
When it comes to staging a Supreme Court Coup, the far Left and its politicians have made clear that “everything is on the table.” Whether it’s through court-packing, purging justices by ending lifetime tenure or imposing a so-called “code of ethics,” we’re witnessing an all-out attack on America’s judicial system. The deceptively named “No Kings Act” is just another part of a radical scheme to take control of the Supreme Court.
Read More:
National Review: Schumer’s Radical Bill to Neuter the Federal Courts
Washington Post: Opinion | Chuck Schumer’s plan to create a constitutional crisis
Fox News: ‘No Kings Act’: Schumer advances Biden SCOTUS overhaul with bill to strip Trump’s immunity
The Federalist: If Chuck Schumer Doesn’t Want A King, Maybe He Should Stop Attacking Our Institutions
Daily Caller: Dems Are Escalating Supreme Court War With Unconstitutional Bill Targeting Presidential Immunity Ruling, Experts Say
Reason: Senator Schumer Goes Nuclear With “No King Act”
Jonathan Turley: Jurisdiction Stripping or Court Killing? The “No Kings Act” is a Decapitation of the Constitution
American Enterprise Institute: Foolish Immunity Proposal Will Threaten Future Presidents
Manhattan Institute: Biden’s Proposed Supreme Court Reforms Are Bad Policy and Politics
“I believe the American people will reject the politicization of our judiciary,” President Ronald Reagan once said. “When the people begin to hear the truth, they will demand an independent judiciary, free from high pressure politics and founded on the principle of judicial restraint.”
500,000+ Americans have already signed the Declaration of Judicial Independence saying: NO to court packing, NO to suspect judicial reforms, NO to the Supreme Court Coup.
Help us spread the truth! Americans who care about their freedoms need to speak up and stand up against this attempted coup. Forward this information to your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. More Americans need to know the threat this scheme poses. We need to work together to help save the priceless heritage of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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