Justice Neil Gorsuch responded to President Joe Biden’s proposal for sweeping reforms to the Supreme Court in an interview that aired Sunday, telling Biden to “be careful.”
Asked by Fox News’ Shannon Bream to respond to Biden’s proposal, Gorsuch told him: “You won’t be surprised that I don’t get into what is now a political issue during a presidential election year. I don’t think that would be helpful.”
But the judge added that for Americans, an independent judiciary “means that when you are unpopular, you can get a fair trial under the law and the Constitution. If you are in the majority, you won’t need judges and juries to hear you and protect your rights. You are popular.
Is the judicial system “there for those times when, when the spotlight is on you, when the government is out to get you, and you don’t want a fiercely independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions?” Gorsuch added.
“And so I just say, be careful,” he concluded.
Last month, Biden traveled to Texas, where he announced a set of proposed reforms to the Supreme Court that would impose mandatory ethics rules for the court and term limits for justices.
The proposals are not likely to be implemented before the end of Biden’s term, but they signal a political objective for Democrats as several Supreme Court justices have come under increased scrutiny in recent years.
Last year, ProPublica reported on a series of expensive gifts and trips Justice Clarence Thomas sided with billionaire Harlan Crow.
Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, also faced scrutiny for his role in trying to overthrow Donald Trump’s electoral defeat in 2020.
And earlier this year, Justice Samuel Alito and his wife were at the center of controversy over two flags flying over their homes: one “Appeal to Heaven” flag it is a upside–below the American flag. Both are symbols used by Trump supporters and flew during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Alito denied that the flags had anything to do with Trump, saying instead that the inverted American flag was flown over his home during a dispute between his wife and their neighbors.
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