McConnell kills dreams of Biden’s Supreme Court reforms

President Joe Biden appears to be looking to leave office with a bang, considering the massive reforms he's attempting to push on the Judicial branch before he leaves next January.

Recent reports indicate that despite the last-minute push by the Biden administration to put term limits on the Supreme Court Justices, it is unlikely to gain enough support in Congress, as The Hill reported.

On Tuesday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized President Biden's plan to limit the number of terms a Supreme Court justice can serve, calling it "unconstitutional" and predicting that it will fail to pass Congress.

Should the measure be enacted, it would certainly impact some of the older justices, including Justice Clarence Thomas who has the most seniority on the nation's high court.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed his surprise at Biden's proposal to limit a justice's active service to 18 years and to allow presidents to select them every two years, considering Biden previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee.

McConnell's Comments

“I couldn’t be more disappointed. This is a man who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee for a long time," McConnell said of Biden.

"He absolutely knows what he recommended is unconstitutional, to try to limit the terms of the Supreme Court justices who under the Constitution are appointed for life."

The Senate Republican leader went on to assert that this plan by Biden's party appears to be an attempt to massively change the political leanings of the nation's high court.

“That shows you the depth to which they have gone lately to attack the Supreme Court because they don’t like the current makeup of the court and decisions they disapprove of,” McConnell said of Democrats.

Real Change

According to McConnell, if change is what the Democrats want, there is a legal way to do it, but this plan isn't it.

“The way to change” the makeup of the court “is to win the presidency and the Senate and appoint people that you like, but not to try to break — break — the Supreme Court,” he said. “This is a level that I think is just simply unacceptable.”

“I know he knows better, and such a proposal would be dead on arrival in Congress,” he said.

Previous Calls for Change

In addition to a mandatory code of behavior for justices of the Supreme Court, Biden has pushed for a constitutional change that would eliminate the immunity of any former president for crimes done while in office.

In a recent 6-3 decision that grants presidents extensive protection from prosecution for crimes done as official acts, Biden referenced the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion in 2022 in an op-ed he wrote for the Washington Post.

Senator Biden's 36 years of service, including his roles as chair and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, were highlighted by Biden.

“I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers,” he wrote. “What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms.”