Biden tells Democratic lawmakers he is weighing big reforms to the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is preparing to endorse significant proposals to reform the Supreme Court, notifying some members of Congress about his intentions last weekend, three sources familiar with the plans told NBC News on Tuesday.
The proposals under serious consideration include legislation to establish term limits for justices and an updated code of ethics that would be binding and enforceable, one source said. The policies haven't been finalized but may be rolled out in the coming weeks, which would mark a new approach for a president who has long been skeptical of restructuring the Supreme Court.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment.
Biden told lawmakers in the Congressional Progressive Caucus during a virtual meeting Saturday that he had been consulting constitutional scholars on this matter for more than a month, according to one person familiar with the discussion.
“I’m going to need your help to and advice on how we should be doing what I’m going to be doing there. Want to make sure we have a closer working relationship, because we’re in this together,” Biden told the lawmakers, though he didn’t get into specific policy substance, the source said.
The Washington Post first reported on Biden’s plans.
Two other sources told NBC News that Biden told the lawmakers he'll come out for big reforms, without giving them details, but that members on the call understood him to be referring to term limits and ethics rules. The call took place Saturday before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
“Look, it’s not, it’s not hyperbole to suggest Trump is literally an existential threat, an existential threat to the very Constitution of democracy we, we say we