Biden Relents And Elevates Supreme Court Reform To His Re-Election Agenda

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

The Supreme Court Is Now On The Ballot

It’s hard to know the precise combination of developments that changed President Biden’s mind about Supreme Court reforms and prompted him to place them more centrally in the framework of the 2024 election.

Was it the ethics scandals of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and the Supreme Court’s own ineptitude in dealing with them? Was it the series of controversial decisions across a whole host of issues and areas of civic life in which the court wrested power away from the executive and legislative branches and placed it firmly in the judicial branch? Was it the six-justice conservative majority aggressively uprooting the court’s own precedents in pursuit of its own preferred legal and policy outcomes? Was it the fact that he’s trailing in the polls with his own re-election more at risk that at any previous point in his presidency?

All of the above are in play, of course. A tipping point was reached, and it’s unlikely any one development was the difference-maker.

The shift, first reported by the Washington Post, was revealed over the weekend in a call Biden had with the Congressional Progressive Caucus:

“I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court, because I’m about to come out — I don’t want to prematurely announce it — but I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court. … I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need some help,” Biden said, according to a transcript of the call obtained by The Washington Post.

The NYT separately confirmed that Biden’s “proposals to overhaul the court … could be unveiled in the coming weeks.”

Among the menu of choices Biden is reported to be considering:

• term limits for the justices;
• imposing an enforceable ethics code; and
• Relatedly, backing a constitutional amendment to reverse the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity.

Late addition: I meant to note that enlarging the court beyond its current nine-justice setup does not appear to be among Biden’s proposals.

None of these measures will pass the GOP-controlled House, though they could serve as messaging vehicles on the Hill between now and the election. More importantly, they elevate Supreme Court reforms to his second term agenda, creating the opportunity for the November election to be a referendum on the high court and create legislative momentum if Biden wins. Even then, it’ll be a very heavy lift.

This is a long-game move, that also offers a few short-term political advantages.

What SCOTUS Hath Wrought

Federal prosecutors are beginning to drop obstruction charges against some Jan. defendants, including Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Fischer limiting the scope of the obstruction statute, the Washington Post reports.

The ‘Not Biden’ Contingent Is Running Out Of Time

An effort originally intended to insure that Republicans couldn’t keep President Biden off the November ballot in some states has now become a potential focal point for the nebulous effort to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee:

• David Weigel: Democratic rush to confirm Biden in ‘virtual vote’ sets up early test for opposition
• David Dayen: Biden Opponents Have Six Days to Get Him Out of the Race

The intra-party Biden opposition remains fragmented and disorganized, so it remains unclear whether this approaching “deadline” will have any kind of catalyzing effect.

A Recurring Critique

It’s long been a knock on President Biden that he is over-reliant on a tight circle of longtime loyal advisers who exert too much control over access to him and over his access to outside information. Not surprising that in the current environment that particular criticism is coming up again:

• WaPo: Biden allies worry he is not getting complete information about race
• NYT: Biden Circle Shrinks as Democrats Fear Election Wipeout

Ouch

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the leading Democratic in the U.S. Senate race, privately told donors Saturday (before the assassination attempt on Trump) that Republicans could sweep if Biden remains as nominee, the NYT reported:

“I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose,” Mr. Schiff said during the meeting, according to a person with access to a transcription of a recording of the event. “And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House.”

Piecing Together The Secret Service Failure

WaPo:

Local police who were assigned by the Secret Service to help spot threats in the crowd at Donald Trump’s rally Saturday were inside the building where a gunman had positioned himself on the roof to shoot at the former president, according to a Secret Service official briefed on the incident.

From inside the Agr International building, they spotted a man acting furtively, walking back and forth around the building with some gear, and radioed a Secret Service command post to alert them, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The Threat Matrix

• Federal authorities are warning of the possibility of additional violence in the aftermath of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
• The Secret Service had already stepped up security measures for Trump before Saturday’s shooting in response to intel reports warning of a potential Iranian assassination plot against him. There is zero indication that the incident in Pennsylvania was connected to the suspected Iranian plot.

Sen. Menendez Convicted On All Counts

Following Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s conviction yesterday in Manhattan in his public corruption case, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on him to resign. Censure or expulsion remain options if Menendez refuses to step down.

This About Sums It Up

Cognitive Dissonance Alert

With Republicans gather to make a convicted felon still facing three other criminal cases their nominee, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) baldy declared: “We in the Republican Party are the law and order team.” 

Just You Wait

John Ganz on JD Vance:

I’ve described the current condition of the United States as a “politics of national despair.” We can see the two sides of that—rage and resignation—so clearly in recent days: the Democratic party seems to have given up and the Republican party has embraced the demonic phantasmagoria of embittered pseudo-intellectuals. Vance’s form of despair is that, for all his worldly success, he can’t transcend a fundamental grievance, a sense of always being lesser. He didn’t escape the despair of poverty through gumption and intelligence: he carries it with him always. It fuels his ambition. To people like Vance, the system of domination that governs our society made itself painfully apparent. But he despairs of overcoming it: instead, the brutality must be embraced. He can win the game. Come out on top. Show them all. Just you wait.

What JD Vance As Veep Would Mean For Ukraine

“Ukraine is in trouble,” a senior European official told the WSJ in response to Donald Trump tapping Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) as his running mate.

Tim Mak has more on Vance’s strong anti-Ukraine position:

Putting aside his views on other topics, the senator from Ohio has essentially made his entire foreign policy reputation on the basis of bashing the country resisting Russian invasion.

He opposes military and financial aid to Ukraine; opposes Ukraine’s NATO membership; believes the United States should negotiate with Putin; and argues that Ukraine should cede its territory to Russia.

More on Europe’s reaction to Vance as veep.

Party Of Lincoln

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