Mike Johnson Torches Biden Attempt to Rein in Corrupt Supreme Court
After President Joe Biden announced his plan to rein in Supreme Court corruption Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson promised to stand in his way. Johnson accused Biden and other Democrats of trying to “change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the Court’s recent decisions.” Biden’s plan calls for setting term limits for justices at 18 years and enforcing a binding code of conduct that would require justices “to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.” Further, Biden also seeks to undo the court’s recent “presidential immunity” decision through a constitutional amendment called the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment.” Johnson is probably mostly taking issue with the last point, but he is happy to slam Biden on any and all proposed tweaks, considering his repeated attempts to shield Donald Trump from prison. Johnson slammed the reforms as “ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court,” claiming they would “tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.”Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the right-wing Federalist Society, was eager to back up Johnson and criticize the Biden administration on the issue of Supreme Court reform. “No conservative justice has made any decision in any big case that surprised anyone, so let’s stop pretending this is about undue influence,” Leo said. “It’s about Democrats destroying a court they don’t agree with.”Unfortunately for Johnson’s argument, the damage to the Supreme Court’s legitimacy has already been done. A poll conducted last year by NPR, PBS NewsHour, and the Marist Institute found that nearly two-thirds of Americans lack confidence in the high court, the lowest number since the poll was first conducted in 2018.Sixty-eight percent of people said they thought the justices should have term limits. These results spanned the political spectrum. So, actually, Biden’s suggested reforms might boost public opinion of the Supreme Court.While Biden says he looks forward to working with Congress on the plan to “prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy,” it seems like the House speaker has no interest in hearing him out. “This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House,” promised Johnson.
After President Joe Biden announced his plan to rein in Supreme Court corruption Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson promised to stand in his way.
Johnson accused Biden and other Democrats of trying to “change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the Court’s recent decisions.”
Biden’s plan calls for setting term limits for justices at 18 years and enforcing a binding code of conduct that would require justices “to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.” Further, Biden also seeks to undo the court’s recent “presidential immunity” decision through a constitutional amendment called the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment.”
Johnson is probably mostly taking issue with the last point, but he is happy to slam Biden on any and all proposed tweaks, considering his repeated attempts to shield Donald Trump from prison. Johnson slammed the reforms as “ongoing efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court,” claiming they would “tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.”
Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the right-wing Federalist Society, was eager to back up Johnson and criticize the Biden administration on the issue of Supreme Court reform.
“No conservative justice has made any decision in any big case that surprised anyone, so let’s stop pretending this is about undue influence,” Leo said. “It’s about Democrats destroying a court they don’t agree with.”
Unfortunately for Johnson’s argument, the damage to the Supreme Court’s legitimacy has already been done. A poll conducted last year by NPR, PBS NewsHour, and the Marist Institute found that nearly two-thirds of Americans lack confidence in the high court, the lowest number since the poll was first conducted in 2018.
Sixty-eight percent of people said they thought the justices should have term limits. These results spanned the political spectrum. So, actually, Biden’s suggested reforms might boost public opinion of the Supreme Court.
While Biden says he looks forward to working with Congress on the plan to “prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy,” it seems like the House speaker has no interest in hearing him out.
“This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris Administration is dead on arrival in the House,” promised Johnson.
