Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Sunday that the Supreme Court is “actively undermining” democracy in the U.S.
Warren said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that she and her colleagues are working to put together reform measures for the Supreme Court, including looking at term limits and adding more justices to the bench. She echoed President Biden’s comments calling for reforms to the Supreme Court in his last six months of office.
“Here’s a man who has been a transformative president. He’s gotten an enormous amount done, and yet, he has stepped away and he has passed the torch to Kamala Harris,” Warren said, referring to Biden. “Why has he done that? He’s done it as an act of patriotism for our nation. And he is saying we not only have to have a president who is here for the nation and who will heal us and bring us together, we also have to change our Supreme Court.”
“Because right now, we have a Supreme Court that has basically jumped the guardrails and is out there giving power to the president, saying that the president can commit any act that the president wants, saying that Congress cannot authorize agencies to act. So we’ve got a Supreme Court that is actively undermining our democracy,” she continued.
Biden laid out his plans for his final six months in office on Wednesday in an address to the nation, which came days after he announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race.
“And I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform, because this is critical to our democracy,” Biden said as he laid out his top priorities.
Multiple outlets reported that Biden is considering proposals to implement term limits for Supreme Court justices and to put in place an enforceable ethics code. Calls for Supreme Court reform have risen over the past year, after reporting unveiled that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted tens of thousands of dollars in hospitality, luxury travel and other favors from a conservative donor.
Biden’s and Warren’s comments on the Supreme Court come weeks after the justices ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Warren said that the Supreme Court is a reason why voters should back Democrats come November.
“And I think what Joe Biden will do over the next six months, is he’s going to keep drawing that to the attention of the American people and reminding them when they vote in November, the Supreme Court is on the ballot. And that is a good reason to vote for Kamala Harris and to vote for Democrats in both the Senate and the House,” she said.