McConnell slams Biden's Supreme Court reform proposal as 'dead on arrival' and 'unconstitutional'

McConnell said the way Democrats can change the "makeup" of the Supreme Court is by winning presidential and Senate elections.

Published: July 30, 2024 4:20pm

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday claimed that President Joe Biden's recent reform proposals for the Supreme Court will be "dead on arrival" in Congress.

Biden released details of his new proposals on Monday, after he suggested major reform was necessary at the nation's highest court last week. The proposals include establishing term limits to 18 years, creating an ethics code for the court’s justices, and ratifying a constitutional amendment that limits presidential immunity.

McConnell said that he was disappointed in the president's proposals because Biden previously served as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, The Hill reported.

"[Biden] 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,” McConnell said. “That shows you the depth to which [Democrats] 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 the way Democrats can change the makeup of the Supreme Court is by winning presidential and Senate elections. The president nominates Supreme Court justices, who are then vetted and approved by the Senate. The current Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

“This is a level that I think is just simply unacceptable," McConnell said. “I know he knows better and such a proposal would be dead on arrival in Congress." 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not commented on whether he would bring the proposals to the Senate floor, but said the Court is a "morass" after recent ethical controversies.

“Look, the Supreme Court is a morass, a true morass, both ethically and substantively,” Schumer told reporters. “It is just outrageous that hard-right, wealthy people who are actually paying groups to go to the Supreme Court are at the time giving gifts worth in total over millions of dollars, whether it be trips or buses or cars or hotel stays, to those same Supreme Court justices."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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