Staff Reports
President Joe Biden’s latest juggling act with the Supreme Court has sent shockwaves through the conservative community. Tired of watching justices hand down rulings that don’t fit the left’s agenda, Biden decided it was high time to shake things up. While a Supreme Court overhaul might sound novel to the Biden administration, attempts to ram through reforms have been on the left’s wish list for over a century. And let’s face it, when has the judicial system ever been a friend to those with a progressive mission?
Cast your mind back to the early 20th century when the liberals in the Senate, upset over Supreme Court decisions, pulled out their reform toolbox. One of the more colorful characters of that era, former Senator Robert Owen, concocted a plan in 1912 to allow Congress to recall federal judges with a simple majority. As if judges were a bad reality TV show contestant. If that wasn’t enough of a circus act, six years later, Owen tried to sneak in a provision to exempt child labor laws from being scrutinized by the Supreme Court. Who knew child labor was such a precious gem in the liberal crown?
Changes to the Supreme Court have been tried before, and all have failed – Washington Examiner https://t.co/wQ7nj6DuTP
— Cassis (@cassisnouveau) August 5, 2024
Not to be outdone by his fellow leftists, former Senator William Borah chimed in with his own proposal in 1923, suggesting that it should take a 7-2 majority for the Supreme Court to strike down a law. Imagine the chaos if the majority decision was simply assigned by how many Senators happened to be in the mood that day—because it’s clearly not like America runs on a solid Constitution or anything.
Fast forward to the 1930s, and here comes Franklin D. Roosevelt, the poster boy for government overreach. After a series of court defeats, FDR attempted the ultimate power play with his Judicial Procedures Reform Bill in 1937. The “packing” of the court was his magic trick aimed at increasing justices from nine to up to fifteen, all in the name of “workload.” Thankfully, the former Chief Justice pulled back the curtain and exposed FDR’s ruse, and it quickly fizzled in Congress. This brash move, which nearly became the poster child for judicial tyranny, remained one of the most audacious attempts to overhaul the court for decades.
And just when conservatives thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, Biden and the Democrats returned with a new list of proposals to reform the bench. This time, the radical ideas include overturning a Supreme Court decision regarding presidential immunity, installing lifetime term limits for justices, and whipping up a shiny new ethics code. These ideas are more like the sloppy leftovers from last week’s political dinner—no one requested them, but here they are, being served up cold and forgotten.
While the notion of a Democratic sweep in future elections is enough to make most sane Americans cringe, the reality remains that these radical reform proposals face an uphill battle in a Republican-controlled House. Biden’s frustration, however, seems to underline a growing trend among leftists who feel the only solution to their grievances with the judiciary is to overstep constitutional boundaries in grand fashion. Instead of accepting the Court’s rulings, the Democrats appear poised to initiate another round of reform efforts, all under the guise of improving ethics or addressing workload. It seems the left’s playbook remains open to reinterpretation, and if history is any guide, they aren’t likely to back down without a fight.
