Biden’s SCOTUS commission pushes back release of final report

The commission that President Biden convened to study Supreme Court reform will delay the release of its final report by one month, according to a source familiar with the plans, as its members work through the details.

The bipartisan commission now plans to release revised discussion materials on Nov. 18 and hold a meeting on those materials the following day, according to an updated time frame provided by the source. A draft report will be released on Dec. 6, a day after which a final meeting will take place. The final report is scheduled to be submitted to Biden on Dec. 15, a month later than expected.

The revised calendar was first reported by Punchbowl News Wednesday morning.

The commission, which Biden established by executive order in April to study issues like expanding the court and term limits, released its first batch of discussion materials in October. The materials, while not finalized, raised concerns about adding justices to the court but suggested that term limits should be seriously considered.

The panel’s initial set of materials explored four areas: “Membership and Size of the Court,” “Term Limits,” “The Court’s role in the Constitutional System” and “Case Selection and Review: Docket, Rules, and Practices.”

The White House has emphasized that the final report will be an assessment and will not contain specific recommendations for consideration. In response to a question from a reporter after the discussion materials were released last month, Biden answered that he did not support term limits for the Supreme Court.

Biden pledged during the presidential campaign to form a commission to study various reform proposals, amid pressure to weigh in on expanding the court, also referred to by some as “court packing.”

Progressives have pushed for expanding the court, particularly after Senate Republicans rushed through the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the weeks leading up to the 2020 election.