Supreme Court commission votes to send final report to Biden with eye toward judicial term limits

The bipartisan Supreme Court commission tasked by President Joe Biden to present court reform suggestions to the executive branch voted unanimously Tuesday to submit a final report giving more weight to imposing term limits over liberal calls for adding justices to the bench.

Biden assembled the commission earlier this year in response to calls by Democrats to restore what they called an ideological "balance" on the court, given the conservative 6-3 majority of justices established under former President Donald Trump. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday the president would review the findings, though there is no definitive schedule for action based on the proposals.

The vote comes just one day after the White House published materials from the nearly 300-page report, which highlighted numerous legal experts on the 34-person commission expressing "profound disagreement" on the idea of court expansion but offering a more sympathetic view to the possibility of term limits for justices.

"I approved the motion because the process that created the report was an extraordinary effort that deserves commendation," said Thomas Griffith, a former appellate court judge who expressed gratitude that the commission's "small handful of conservatives" on the panel were "fairly considered" in the final report.

"The commission has modeled an approach to debate over important issues that is much needed in this polarized moment," Griffith added. Earlier this year, two conservative members of the panel resigned ... (Read more)

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