Thune: Democrats’ Supreme Court “Reforms” Amount to Changing the Rules in the Middle of the Game
“[I]t seems that my Democrat colleagues are resolved not to learn from history – and are perfectly willing to sacrifice the long-term stability of the Supreme Court for their own short-term political gain.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today called out Democrats’ relentless attempts to politicize and undermine the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court. Thune noted that the administration’s most recent ploy would set an incredibly dangerous precedent and undermine the Supreme Court’s independence.
Thune’s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):
“Mr. President, yesterday evening, in the tradition of another Democrat president and his infamous court-packing scheme way back in 1937, President Biden announced a proposal to interfere with the Constitution’s separation of powers and permanently politicize the Supreme Court.
“He dressed it up with appeals to permanent American values.
“But what it all boiled down to, Mr. President, was this:
“Democrats don’t like some of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions.
“And so they’ve decided to change the rules of the game.
“That’s it.
“Mr. President, I’ve disagreed with more than one Supreme Court decision in my time.
“I’ve disagreed with Supreme Court justices nominated by presidents of my own party.
“But I have never thought that my not agreeing with a Supreme Court decision meant that the court itself was illegitimate – or that my party should attempt to change the law to make over the Supreme Court in our image.
“Not so for Democrats.
“The Supreme Court releases a handful of decisions Democrats don’t like, and they decide that the court is illegitimate – and that it’s time to remake the court to their liking.
“More than one Democrat has already introduced legislation in Congress to do so.
“And now, with the president’s announcement yesterday, it’s become clear that those plans have accelerated – and that if Democrats take the White House and Congress in November, we can expect them to lose no time in destroying the court as we know it.
“And while the president’s proposals are troubling enough – a measure to circumvent the Constitution’s lifetime appointments for justices and replace the Supreme Court’s own code of conduct with a code of conduct mandated by Democrat congressmembers – who knows if Democrats will stop there.
“After all, while their proposal would conveniently start by retiring Republican appointees, Democrats would only be able to retire one justice every two years.
“Who’s to say that would be fast enough for Democrats?
“We all know that court-packing – expanding the Supreme Court until you get a sufficient number of justices to endorse your policies – has gained significant traction in Democrat circles.
“Indeed, President Biden’s term-limits proposal is a version of court-packing by another name.
“And it would not surprise me at all if Democrats didn’t stop there.
“Because make no mistake, Mr. President, this is a slippery slope.
“Once you start interfering, there is no going back.
“If the Democrats implement this plan, it is easy to see a future where each subsequent administration acts to ‘return balance’ to the Supreme Court, with the result that the Supreme Court changes wildly from administration to administration, losing all independence and credibility and any resemblance to the Supreme Court as established by the Constitution.
“I’d like to remind my Democrat colleagues of what happened with the filibuster for judicial nominees here in the Senate.
“Back in 2013, Democrats – frustrated that they could not rubber-stamp all of President Obama’s appointees – abolished the filibuster for lower-court nominees.
“It turned out to be a quick step from that to abolishing the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees a few years later.
“And I’m pretty sure I’ve heard more than one of my Democrat colleagues express regret over that 2013 decision.
“But it seems that Democrats are resolved not to learn from history – and are perfectly willing to sacrifice the long-term stability of the Supreme Court for their own short-term political gain.
“Mr. President, even worse than any specific element of President Biden’s proposals yesterday is the incredibly dangerous precedent they would set for meddling in what is supposed to be a separate, independent branch of our government.
“If Democrats were really concerned about impartiality and the rule of law and promoting faith in the Supreme Court, the last thing they would be doing is interfering with the court’s makeup.
“And if there are any Democrats left in Congress who are willing to put the long-term health of our institutions over some temporary political gain, I urge them to join Republicans in opposing this power grab.
“Mr. President, I yield the floor.”
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Thank you Senator Thune for standing for integrity of the checks and balances of three distinct branches of government in our Constitution.
Tyrants on the right and left are destroying the basic protections of our individual rights, freedoms, and protections under the Constitution.
Thune cooperated in the political game of denying a vote on Garland’s nomination. Now there’s evidence of insane amounts of gifts being accepted by members of the court. It sure looks like the R’s created this mess.
I can’t fathom that it’s somehow a bad idea to not expect the Supreme Court to abide by a code of ethics.
You’re expecting an appreciation of ethics from those that slobber at Trumps feet? Like that’ll ever happen. Ban justices from accepting gifts, ban congress from trading stocks, ban the executive branch from hiring corporate cronies.
I think you have to have your head pretty far up the party behind to be against the ethics rules. It may sound good when your ideals are the majority, but what happens when they are not? Think past yourself, ethics, just like checks and balances, is not a bad rule.
I agree SCOTUS may have to look after their ethics rules, etc. However, keep in mind, as separate branches of government, Congress and the Supreme Court have significant latitude in this regard because they are separate arms of the Government. This separation is part of the checks and balance lest “ethics” become Congress trying to influence SCOTUS or usurp their powers. We have to tread carefully lest the unintended consequences are worse than the problem.
Additionally, Biden’s SCOTUS proposal goes well beyond ethics. The term limit proposal is a means to make judges more politically sensitive vs. Constitution centric.
Legislation is about compromise, accept the ethics, hold them accountable to a jury of their peers to judge conflicts. That process is good enough for all of us, we can put our life on the line to a jury of peers, SCOTUS should be held accountable as well. We the people hold the power, and regardless of what was acceptable before, WE can say no more. I wouldn’t mind putting the same ethics rules in for congress as well, amazing how many multi-millionaires come out of there from being a career politician.