[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 126 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S5720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Supreme Court

  Mr. President, on the Supreme Court and the immunity, their awful 
immunity provision for Presidents, including Trump, all of us in school 
were taught that there are no Kings in America. There are no Kings in 
America.
  But 1 month ago, the MAGA Supreme Court effectively placed a crown 
over Donald Trump's head. They ruled that the President of the United 
States is, in essence, above the law; that the President is immune in 
sweeping ways from accountability for ``official acts.''
  One month ago, I said I would work with my colleagues on legislation 
to reverse the damage of the Court's bewildering ruling on immunity. 
Today, I am pleased to announce Senate Democrats are taking the next 
step.
  Today, along with 33 of my Democratic colleagues, I am introducing 
the No Kings Act. This legislation is as simple as the name it bears. 
It reaffirms that Presidents do not have immunity from violations of 
criminal law and removes the Supreme Court's jurisdiction to hear 
appeals related to Presidential immunity, which the Constitution 
explicitly empowers Congress to do.
  The MAGA Supreme Court's decision on Presidential immunity was the 
very antithesis of the kind of accountability our Framers envisioned. 
It just goes to show you what a morass the Supreme Court is in right 
now. They are in a mess. They are in an ethical morass and in a 
substantive morass.
  Ethically, the MAGA Supreme Court is suffering a huge crisis of 
confidence with the American people because Justices accept lavish 
gifts, vacations, and cars from hard-right wealthy people who are then 
paying different groups and lawyers to lobby for what they want. And 
then the Justices turn around and ram through scores of hard-right 
decisions.
  The two have been, sometimes, all too close to one another in time. 
Substantively, the MAGA Supreme Court is taking the rights away from 
Americans at every opportunity--like a woman's right to choose and 
others--siding with the big special interests against the average 
person.
  And, again, the MAGA Supreme Court is undermining our Constitution 
and throwing out centuries of precedent by anointing Donald Trump and 
future Presidents as Kings above the law. And make no mistake about it, 
we have a very strong argument that Congress, by statute, can undo what 
the Supreme Court does, that it does not require a constitutional 
amendment.
  The bottom line is this: No democracy can hope to survive if it 
cannot ensure accountability. And if the Supreme Court can no longer be 
trusted to serve as its own check on ethics or on following precedent 
and helping the American people, Congress must use all its tools to 
restore trust and accountability to the highest Court in the land.