[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 123 (Monday, July 29, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5534-S5535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           U.S. Supreme Court

  Madam President, now on SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United 
States, no democracy can hope to survive if it can't ensure 
accountability. That is a hallmark of democracy--and American 
democracy, in particular. This was the stern warning handed down to us 
by the Framers of the Constitution. Accountability is how power is 
checked, how consent of the governed is secured, and how trust between 
the people and their institutions is preserved.
  Later today, President Biden will speak at the LBJ Presidential 
Library on the need for accountability for the U.S. Supreme Court, 
where it is desperately needed. The President published an op-ed in the 
Washington Post outlining his ideas and will expand on them this 
evening.
  I believe the President is right to say aloud what many Americans 
already think: The Supreme Court is a morass. I am particularly pleased 
President Biden called for undoing the damage of the Court's recent 
immunity decision. I think Congress should pursue the idea through 
legislation, and I am working with my colleagues on the best way to 
proceed.
  A few years ago, the Supreme Court was easily the most trusted 
institution in government, but today confidence in the Court is at an 
alltime low. For over a year, Americans have learned how some Justices 
have accepted millions of dollars in lavish gifts from rightwing 
benefactors that, at the same time, had business before the Court. They 
were funding these groups to pursue their rightwing agenda before the 
Court. And all of this happened in total secrecy and possibly--
possibly--in violation of the law.
  And at the same time, the MAGA Justices have rammed through a flurry 
of hard-right decisions, reversing decades of precedent--they almost 
seem to ignore it from time to time, when they want to--on reproductive 
freedoms, on affirmative action, on gerrymandering, administrative law, 
and so much more. These decisions on choice and so many other issues 
are way out of the mainstream.
  And 1 month ago, the MAGA Justices ruled that the President of the 
United States is, in essence, above the law when it comes to his 
``official acts.'' The conservative majority's ruling was the very 
antithesis of the kind of accountability our Framers envisioned. The 
MAGA Court more or less echoed Richard Nixon's infamous view that 
``when the President does it, that means it is not illegal.''
  These fringe rulings and ethical scandals are not the signs of a 
healthy Supreme Court. They are the signs of a Court run amok.
  The good news is that the Constitution provides a remedy to the 
Supreme Court's current morass: Congress has the authority to exercise 
strong checks on the judiciary through legislation, and Congress has 
the authority to speak on constitutional issues. The Constitution is 
clear: The Supreme Court does not get the final word.
  An option I am seriously considering is drawing up legislation 
clarifying that the President is not immune from violations of Federal 
law.
  One of the Justices recently claimed there is no provision in the 
Constitution that gives Congress authority to regulate the courts. I 
respectfully suggest that this Justice reread the Constitution because 
it is plain as day that Congress is well within its rights to conduct 
oversight.
  Accountability shouldn't be a dirty word when we talk about the 
Supreme Court. Americans across the ideological spectrum agree that 
checks and balances are necessary for a system to thrive, and they 
agree those checks should apply to the Supreme Court just

[[Page S5535]]

as they apply to other branches of government.
  It is no wonder the Court's positive ratings are at an alltime low. 
If they can't straighten it out themselves, Congress should.