President Joe Biden may have bowed out of the 2024 presidential race.
But that doesn’t mean he’s not plotting some major moves during his final months in The White House.
His potential swan song?
A potential remake of the U.S. Constitution.
According to a Fox News report, Biden is urging Congress to impose term limits and a code of conduct on the Supreme Court while also drafting limits on presidential immunity.
Biden outlined his plan in an op-ed published by The Washington Post.
Here are excerpts from Biden himself:
“I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today,” Biden said.
“I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers. What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach,” Biden wrote.
Regarding the Supreme Court, Biden wants to impose a term limit of 18 years for justices. Once fully adopted, it would allow presidents to appoint new justices at a cadence of once every two years.
Biden argued the new Supreme Court code of conduct should 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.”
But here’s the real kicker to Biden’s plan.
Biden’s reforms would eliminate any immunity a former president enjoys for crimes committed while in office.
Is this potential reform a veiled effort to go after former President Donald Trump?
Fox News reports President Biden is trying to alter the Constitution. He's plans to introduce term limits and an enforceable ethics code for Supreme Court justices. He's also considering proposing a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad presidential immunity. All of this… pic.twitter.com/D63Syufb5X
— Freyja™ (@FreyjaTarte) July 29, 2024
Of course the Biden camp would deny that. However, the effort does now have the public backing of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris endorsed the push saying, “Today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent.”
The White House also released the following statement:
“President Biden and Vice President Harris look forward to working with Congress and empowering the American people to prevent the abuse of Presidential power, restore faith in the Supreme Court, and strengthen the guardrails of democracy.”
Biden would need the full backing of Congress to push something like this through. However, it’s a peculiar move considering this is the first policy push Biden has moved forward with since leaving the presidential race.