White House touts new poll to support Biden’s Supreme Court changes

The White House is touting a new poll that it says shows vast support for President Biden’s proposed changes for the Supreme Court, which he announced last month.

The USA Today-Ipsos poll published Friday showed that 76% of respondents backed a proposed code of conduct for the high court, while 63% supported an 18-year term limit for the justices, as Mr. Biden has proposed.

And 70% of respondents favored a constitutional amendment declaring that no president is above the law.

“President Biden’s common-sense reforms are backed by constitutional experts across the political spectrum, and large majorities of the American people,” a White House statement read. 

The poll surveyed 1,024 adults Aug. 2-4. Its margin of error was 3.2 percentage points.

In July, Mr. Biden suggested imposing a term limit on the justices and a constitutional amendment in the wake of the high court’s ruling on presidential immunity from prosecution. The justices ruled 6-3 that former President Donald Trump was immune from prosecution regarding official conduct in office. The amendment would make it possible to prosecute presidents.

Mr. Biden also proposed an ethics code be imposed on the high court. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, issued a statement embracing the suggested reforms.

When the proposals were linked directly to Mr. Biden, however, respondents’ support diminished.

A majority of Republican voters, 58%, said the proposal to impose term limits and enact a code of ethics was a “major threat to democracy.” Only 26% of independent voters and 10% of Democrats felt that way.

Mr. Biden’s proposed changes, though, look like they would have little support from a divided Congress with just 88 days until the November election.

Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris are hoping to tap into their base’s frustration with the 6-3 conservative majority on the bench cemented by Mr. Trump, who appointed three of the nine justices on the current court.

The justices split ideologically on July 1, ruling that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken under their core presidential functions, presumed immunity for all official acts, and no immunity for nonofficial acts.

The challenge was brought by Mr. Trump, who argued he was immune from prosecution in the election fraud case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

The left has also been outraged with the high court since 2022 when it overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 landmark ruling that had given women a national right to abortion. 

Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel A. Alito have been accused in a series of articles of taking luxury trips with billionaires and not recusing from election- and Jan. 6-related cases in which their wives had expressed political support for Mr. Trump and his movement after he lost the 2020 election.