Biden Remains Opposed to Expanding Supreme Court

President's commission hadn't recommended adding justices
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 25, 2022 2:30 PM CDT
Despite 'Terrible Decisions,' Biden Opposes Enlarging Court
President Biden walks from Marine One to board Air Force One on Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Biden is traveling to Germany to attend a Group of Seven summit.   (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

President Biden renewed his criticism of the Supreme Court on Saturday but stood by his opposition to increasing the number of justices. After signing gun violence legislation into law at the White House, the president was asked whether he thinks the court is a broken institution, the BBC reports. The justices issued rulings this week on gun rights and abortion rights that Biden has said he disagrees with. "I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions," Biden answered Saturday, without elaborating.

On Air Force One later, his press secretary said Biden, who has said in the past that he's "not a fan of court-packing," remains opposed to expanding the Supreme Court. Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the president still considers the court legitimate, per the Washington Post. Biden set up a commission to look into changing the court's structure, but it decided against recommending adding justices—or doing anything, really. There was interest among members in imposing term limits, per the New York Times. Biden hasn't publicly responded to the commission's report.

"Among the world's democracies, at least 27 have term limits for their constitutional courts," commission materials said, and other nations have age limits. The US has neither. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna planned to call for term limits in a speech to Democrats on Saturday in Nevada, per Axios; he's proposed 18-year terms in the past. "Today's majority is not comprised of impartial justices," Khanna's prepared text says. "They are far-right activist justices." In a democracy, the speech says, the people decide "fundamental rights and freedoms." (More President Biden stories.)

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