(The Hill) – President Biden on Monday proposed term limits for Supreme Court justices and a constitutional amendment to counteract their recent presidential immunity decision, according to a White House official.
Biden endorsed the proposals during a speech Monday afternoon at the LBJ Presidential Library, where he also voiced support for a binding code of conduct for the justices.
“The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats in its high court. Term limits would help ensure that the court membership changes with some regularity,” Biden said in his speech. “That would make timing for the court’s nominations more predictable and less arbitrary, and reduce the chance that any single presidency imposes undue influence in generations to come.”
The announcement marks a major shift for the president, who has long resisted progressives’ calls for Supreme Court reforms over fears it would politicize the court. Conservatives have portrayed the effort as an attack to tear down the court’s 6-3 conservative majority.
Biden has increasingly taken on the court, particularly after it overturned constitutional abortion protections and carved out criminal immunity for former presidents. Biden signaled the announcement in his recent Oval Office speech addressing his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
One part of Biden’s three-fold proposal directly responds to the immunity decision, which handed a major win to former President Trump by dooming some elements of his criminal prosecutions.
Biden is calling for a constitutional amendment that would partially overturn the landmark decision by making clear former presidents do not enjoy criminal immunity from federal criminal indictments. It would not apply to state indictments, however.
Biden is also demanding 18-year term limits for the nine justices, which would enable the sitting president to appoint a new justice every two years.
Biden is also endorsing a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court, which has faced relentless public pressure on its ethics standards following reports of Justice Clarence Thomas and others accepting lavish trips and gifts from billionaires.
In November, the court adopted an ethics code after months of closed-door discussions, but its lack of enforcement mechanism has drawn criticism from Democrats and some watchdog groups.
Justice Elena Kagan endorsed an enforcement mechanism while speaking at a judicial conference last week, becoming the first current justice to publicly support it.
Alex Gangitano contributed.
