Why does Joe Biden want to reform the US Supreme Court?

In brief…

• Joe Biden has announced plans to reform the US Supreme Court - the highest legal branch in the US capable of making historic rulings.
• He wants to limit term times for justices and overturn its recent immunity ruling for presidents carrying out “official acts”.
• This will be difficult to do in a polarised America with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, The News Agents say.

You may have heard of some of the US Supreme Court’s historic legal rulings. One example is when it overturned Roe V Wade - a legal case that gave all Americans a constitutional right to abortions.

But with that decision, abortions have since been banned in 14 states.

How about just last month, when it ruled that all former presidents have partial immunity from criminal prosecution for any “official” act one takes while in office.

It means it will be much harder to convict Donald Trump on election interference charges after he was accused of inciting an insurrection.

Essentially, the US’ highest judicial branch has the power to interpret the Constitution and pass laws on behalf of the American people.

With presidents able to appoint justices who can sit for a lifetime, Democrats have long-called for reform. But what exactly do Biden and the Democrats want changed? And will reform be possible?

What does Joe Biden want to change about the Supreme Court?

Joe Biden said this week that the US’ Supreme Court is in need of reform.

Why?

Well, Emily Maitlis said in an episode on The News Agents USA: “Biden has talked about extremism on the court, and how that's led to an erosion of public trust.

“And I think that's really interesting, because what he's essentially said is that this body, this bench, the Supreme Court, which ought to have been above and beyond politics, has been politicised.”

Emily points out that Biden has repeatedly been urged to “pack” more Democrats into the court.

But rather than doing this, Biden has suggested there should be term-time limits for Supreme Court justices.

Currently, there are six justices who have been appointed by Republican presidents, and three appointed by Democratic ones. They can sit in the court for life.

Jon Sopel notes: “It used to be the case in the 19th century, you were to be appointed in your late 50s. You had a life expectancy of your mid to late 60s, you were there for 10 years, and you are gone.”

Now, the demographic make-up is completely different.

For instance, the most recent appointment - Amy Coney Barrett - is in her 40s.

Jon says: She could be there for another 40-50 years in the Supreme Court making judgments. So one of the things he’s [Biden] saying is, let's have fixed term limits.”

But that’s not all.

“The other thing he's saying is that you need to overturn the Supreme Court ruling about presidential immunity so that a president can be held legally responsible for their act when they are a president”, Jon notes.

What obstacles will Biden face?

There’s a catch.

Jon says: “The problem is, it would require a constitutional amendment for that to happen. And there hasn't been a constitutional amendment passed since 1992.”

To get a constitutional amendment passed, it needs to have a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

This is difficult in a “polarised, divided America, where the Democrats have the Senate but not the house and vice versa”, Jon adds.

In fact, the chances of that happening are “more or less zero’, Jon says.

But Emily says: [It’s] interesting that he's throwing himself into these,massive constitutional issues now because he's not fighting the campaign. He might as well be having a go at it.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents USA: How is Trump coping with being called ‘weird’?