Since taking office, President Joe Biden has been critical of the Supreme Court Of The United States (SCOTUS), and his feelings were on full display during an interview with Nicole Wallace earlier this week. While appearing on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” on Thursday, Biden offered his opinion that the court made the wrong decisions in some high-profile cases – notably last year when the highest court in the land struck down Roe v. Wade and then again this week when it struck down affirmative action programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard.
“I know today’s court decision is a severe disappointment for so many people, including me, but we cannot let the decision be a permanent setback for the country,” Biden said referring to the SCOTUS decision that ended the systematic consideration of race in the admissions process at the two universities. “We need to keep an open door of opportunities. We need to remember that diversity is our strength.”
The high court had ruled that the two programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and are therefore unlawful. The vote was 6-3 in the UNC case and 6-2 in the Harvard case, in which liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was recused.
Biden suggested that the country and the centers for higher learning are stronger when they’re “racially diverse,” he told Wallace. He also proposed that colleges take into account the adversity students have overcome when they select among qualified applicants.
“It means understanding … particular hardships that each individual student has faced in life, including racial discrimination that individuals have faced in their own lives,” Biden added.
Would Biden Act Against a ‘Rogue’ Supreme Court?
The president also was asked whether the Supreme Court – which is made up of three Trump-era appointees – could be described as a “rogue court” by Wallace.
“This is not a normal court,” Biden replied. “It’s done more to unravel basic rights and basic decisions than any court in recent history, and that’s what I meant by not normal.”
Biden also said that he felt the 6-3 conservative majority of the court was somehow “too young and too conservative” – and warned that it could do greater harm to the country with its rulings. However, he also spoke against any calls to expand the court, or “pack the court” as it has been labeled.
“I think they may do too much harm,” Biden said. “But I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we’re going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that’s not healthy.”
Biden did try to put a positive spin on the state of the court.
“Maybe it’s just the optimist in me — I think that some of the court are beginning to realize their legitimacy is being questioned in ways that it hadn’t been questioned in the past,” he explained.
Destroy the Supreme Court by Packing It?
Last year, progressive Democrats including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts among others expressly called for expanding the court in the wake of the decision on abortion access. They would like to see the court expanded from nine to 13 justices.
After he was elected, Biden appointed a 36-member bipartisan commission to study potential changes to the Supreme Court – including the addition of more seats, as well as term limits and a code of ethics for justices, ABC News reported following the Roe decision. The commission unanimously adopted a report late last year. It warned that excessive change to the institution could cause democracy to regress in the future. However, the panel found “considerable” support for 18-year term limits for the justices.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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