Democrats vow to get "aggressive" with SCOTUS after Trump ruling
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at a press conference on June 27, 2024. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images.
House Democrats are previewing plans for a forceful legislative and investigative push against the Supreme Court's ruling that presidents have legal immunity for "official acts."
Why it matters: It is part of House Democrats' effort to frame themselves in the 2024 election as a potential bulwark against unified conservative control of a federal government led by former President Trump.
- "Everyone is making that argument with donors" after President Biden's poor debate performance last week, one House Democrat told Axios.
- "The only thing more dangerous than Trump winning is Trump with control of all three branches of government," Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) told Axios.
Driving the news: The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines Monday that Trump is shielded from prosecution for "official acts" he performed while in office, Axios' Erin Doherty and Ivana Saric reported.
- Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the conservative majority, said a former president has "absolute immunity" for acts "within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority."
- The decision leaves it to lower courts to determine if most of the criminal acts Trump was accused of in the Jan. 6 indictment are "official" or not.
- In a win for Trump, the ruling all but guarantees the case will not go to trial before Nov. 5.
What they're saying: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), in a statement reacting to the ruling, said House Democrats "will engage in aggressive oversight and legislative activity" in response.
- The aim, he said, will be to "ensure that the extreme, far-right justices in the majority are brought into compliance with the Constitution."
- Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said it is "incumbent upon the Legislative Branch to preserve the constitutional foundation of our democracy as three co-equal branches of government."
Zoom in: House Democrats are proposing a variety of Supreme Court overhaul measures — all long-shots, especially given GOP control of the House — in response to the ruling.
- Goldman pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to hold a vote on his bill establishing an independent ethics counsel for the Supreme Court.
- Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) floated expanding the court and passing a binding code of ethics, while Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) called to pass term limits for justices.
- Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said he will introduce a constitutional amendment to "reverse SCOTUS' harmful immunity decision and ensure that no president is above the law."
Between the lines: The proposals essentially serve as a 2024 campaign pitch for how House Democrats could try to constrain a conservative court, a Trump administration and a GOP-led Senate.
- Democrats have increasingly tried to cleave their races off from the top of the ticket amid signs that Biden's campaign is in trouble.
- Senate Democrats, meanwhile, face a difficult roadmap for keeping their narrow majority, leaving House Democrats to feel they're their party's best hope of staving off a total GOP takeover.
Reality check: Even if Democrats win the House in November, they would have little power to stop a Republican-controlled White House and Senate from tightening their grip on the court, some lawmakers noted.
- There is "very little we can do except elect a Democrat [as president] who will appoint vacancies if Democrats hold [the] Senate," Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) told Axios.
- Proposals to create ethics rules on justices, expand the court and impose term limits, some of which lack universal support even from Democrats, are "all good issues but aspirational," Cohen added.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Rep. Joe Morelle.
