by Jorge Gomez • 4 minutes
As the Biden administration comes to an end, Americans will one day look back on the past four years and see how much damage was done to our country’s judicial system.
From the outset, the Biden administration, the far Left and many politicians made clear they were willing to do everything in their power to wrest control of the U.S. Supreme Court. They embraced radical court-packing and established a Supreme Court Commission to explore how to “reform” the nation’s highest court. Court-packing was wildly unpopular. Americans overwhelmingly rejected the idea of expanding the Court. They saw court-packing for what it was: a brazen power grab. Even after months of deliberation, the rigged “reform” commission itself couldn’t recommend court-packing.
The attempt at court-packing was a failure. But that didn’t mean the administration or the radical Left were done trying to rig the Court in their favor. After the 2022 midterm elections, they shifted their strategy and launched a massive campaign to attack the reputation of the justices themselves. Under the guise of “ethics,” the far Left levied fabricated accusations against justices, supposed scandals aimed at making Americans hallucinate misconduct. This line of attack went on for years. Some of the most radical groups in the country poured in millions of dollars to undermine the credibility of the justices and the authority of the Court’s rulings.
In its final six months, the Biden administration once again said it would pursue radical changes to the Supreme Court. Along with the Far Left, they tried to disguise the dangers of their plan by calling it “court reform.” But the reality was that these proposals would damage judicial independence and the constitutional order. They proposed ending life tenure for justices and giving Congress the power to oversee the Court’s ethics. Some proposals would prevent the Court from hearing certain cases, effectively destroying the Court’s power of judicial review.
This is the legacy that the Biden administration leaves behind. And make no mistake, their never-ending attacks over the last four years caused great harm to our judicial system.
President Biden and members of his party repeatedly claimed the Court had “lost credibility” in the eyes of the American people. They said their “reform” proposals, investigations and legislation would supposedly help restore faith and public trust in the Supreme Court.
But the opposite happened. Gallup reported the sharpest decline in judicial trust between 2020 and 2024. Not to mention that by 2024, radical court “reform” had clearly led to more polarization among Americans when it came to the judiciary. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a result of the incessant attacks on the Supreme Court. So, one can say the Biden administration and Far Left did “succeed” at one thing: further destroying the Court’s legitimacy.
Ruining the credibility of the courts and their rulings isn’t something to take lightly. It’s an attack on judicial independence, the very foundation of our judicial system and the rule of law. Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement—who’s argued more than 100 Supreme Court cases—warned that attacks on the judiciary are “incredibly dangerous” because if you study the Supreme Court through history, “its legitimacy has to be built up over time. And it’s been a careful effort that has literally taken centuries.”
Chief Justice Roberts recently explained that a major “threat to judicial independence is defiance of judgments lawfully entered by courts.”
“Within the past few years…elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions…must be soundly rejected,” Roberts wrote in his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary.
“Judicial independence is worth preserving…Our political system and economic strength depend on the rule of law. The rule of law depends, in turn, on Article III of the Constitution and judges and justices appointed and confirmed under it,” Roberts continued. “But violence, intimidation, and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable.”
The judiciary has undoubtedly taken some serious blows over the past four years. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Because of the 2024 election results, the threat of radical court “reform” has been averted—at least for now.
“Democrats passed no legislation, in spite of proposing a number of what they branded “reforms,” and they won’t for some time,” writes Dan McLaughlin at National Review. “With Republicans now in charge of both houses of Congress and about to take the reins in the White House, it will be at least four years before Democrats can either wield any governmental power to attack the Court or make any appointments to reshape its personnel.”
Plus, there are many indicators showing that—contrary to what the Left says—Americans still support the Supreme Court and judicial independence. While there’s been a decline in government trust in recent years, the judiciary consistently ranks as the most trusted branch.
According to a Marquette Law School poll from December, approval of the Supreme Court is “edging upward.” 45% of American adults approve of the justices’ work. That’s a slight increase from 43% when the same poll was conducted in July. A separate survey from Gallup found a slightly higher 48% of the public trusts the judicial branch a “great deal/fair amount.”
Polling commissioned by First Liberty in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 consistently shows that most Americans reject proposals to change the U.S. Supreme Court. A whopping 87% said an independent judiciary is a crucial safeguard of our rights and freedoms.
Despite the Left’s ire and all that the Biden administration and his party did to undermine it, America’s judicial system is resilient. Plus, Americans can discern the truth when the dangers of so-called court “reform” are exposed. That’s what’s most encouraging. Time after time, the American people have made clear that the last thing they want is a Supreme Court Coup. They know that court-packing and “reform” would be a disaster for our country.
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