WASHINGTON, July 29 Many Americans support US President Joe Biden's proposal to reform the US Supreme Court, White House Director of Public Engagement Steve Benjamin said on Monday.
«The important thing about Supreme Court reform is that a significant number of Americans also take this issue very seriously,» he told reporters, speaking about public support for reforming the country's highest court.
At the same time, Benjamin did not make predictions about how long it might take to approve the reform if Congress decides to do so.
«It will take time to make legislative decisions… It is important that it takes time. Biden will not stop. We will make attempts,» he added.
US President Joe Biden previously proposed reforming the US Supreme Court and stripping presidents of immunity. He advocated rotation in the highest court, putting forward the idea that presidents would replace one of the nine judges every two years, and their terms would be limited to 18 years (currently they are appointed for life); proposed a uniform code of ethics for the Supreme Court; constitutional amendment stating that former presidents do not have immunity from prosecution “for crimes committed while in office.”
Biden outlined his vision in an article for the Washington Post. Moreover, he was prompted to make these proposals by the Supreme Court’s decision on Donald Trump’s partial immunity and the abolition of some precedents, in particular on women’s right to abortion. Biden said that without approval of his initiatives, the storming of the Capitol could be repeated, and “this is just the beginning.”
Biden’s proposals were sharply condemned on Monday by US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who called them “radical”, upsetting the balance of power and undermine the rule of law, adding that such initiatives are part of efforts by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to delegitimize the highest court. He expressed confidence that this initiative would not pass the House of Representatives.
Approval of a constitutional amendment is a complex legislative process: its approval requires the votes of two-thirds of legislators from both houses of Congress (or a special congress, if the initiative was initiated Senate only); Once approved on Capitol Hill, the amendment must be ratified by the states by a three-quarters vote of their local legislatures (or by special conventions). The process may take several years.