Joe Biden New Supreme Court Plan Backed by Republicans

President Joe Biden’s new plan for the U.S. Supreme Court is supported by a majority of Republicans, according to polls.

Biden is set to support several measures to reform the Supreme Court amid Democratic outrage over its recent decisions and several ethics scandals, according to a report from The Washington Post citing “two people briefed on the plans.” The report outlines that he plans to endorse an enforceable ethics code that would apply to the court, as well as term limits for the justices.

Term limits for Supreme Court justices are supported by most Americans, including a majority of voters from both major political parties, polls show. Currently, Supreme Court appointments are for life or until a justice chooses to retire.

Hart Research survey conducted earlier this year found that 64 percent of voters support term limits for Supreme Court justices. That number was 78 percent among Democrats, 59 percent among independents and 51 percent among Republicans.

The poll was conducted among 1,202 registered voters from March 20 to March 24, 2024, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Elsewhere, 2022 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found broad support for term limits. According to the survey, 67 percent of Americans would support term limits. That included 82 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans.

That poll surveyed 1,085 U.S. adults from July 14 to July 17, 2022. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Biden’s plan does not go as far as some Democrats may wish, as he is not expected to change his position on packing the court. Some more progressive Democrats have urged him to add more than nine justices to the court to counteract its strong conservative majority, but he has not embraced these calls. Some have warned that if Biden were to pack the court, the next Republican president would do the same.

Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign for comment via email.

Legal analyst Elie Mystal responded to the report of Biden’s plans on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“I know term limits and ethics sounds ‘less radical’ to a lot of people than court expansion. But, as I keep trying to tell you all, the Supreme Court gets to decide if term limits and ethics are constitutional. And so if you don’t expand the court, these other plans will fail,” Mystal posted.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University College of Law, wrote, “I think Supreme Court term limits can be established by statute. But, I’m not confident the Court will just say, ‘yeah that’s okay.’ Another (and additional) route Congress could take is to offer very generous retirement terms contingent upon immediate retirement after 18 years.”

A group of Democratic senators have already introduced a bill that would establish term limits for justices. The bill would require a new justice to take the bench every two years and spend 18 years participating in the cases. After that 18-year term, the justice would be limited to “hearing a small number of constitutionally required cases.”

It remains unclear whether there would be wide support for Supreme Court term limits in Congress, despite its wide support among voters from all political perspectives.

Biden’s support for SCOTUS term limits comes as the justices are facing heightened scrutiny from Democrats over recent decisions and ethics scandals.

The court sparked outrage from Democrats and legal analysts earlier in July after ruling that presidents have complete immunity for official acts in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case.

Meanwhile, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have faced criticism for not recusing themselves from the case over their alleged ties to Republicans.

Alito faced recusal calls after The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag, a pro-Trump symbol, was flown outside his home, though he said his wife only flew it as part of a spat with neighbors.

Thomas faced refusal calls over his wife Ginni Thomas’ alleged support for efforts to block President Biden’s Electoral College victory. He has faced other scrutiny for accepting gifts previously undisclosed gifts from GOP billionaire Harlan Crow but has said he followed the reporting guidelines at the time, maintaining he did not engage in wrongdoing.