Montana’s congressional delegation and those hoping to join it reacted to President Joe Biden’s call to reform the U.S. Supreme Court early this week, with Democratic Sen. Jon Tester backing the need to hold judges accountable to a code of ethics but saying he needed to review the rest of the plan.
Republicans sharply were against Biden’s goals, while Democrats seeking office viewed them positively.
In an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Monday, Biden, a Democrat, proposed 18-year term limits for justices on a schedule where a president would appoint a new justice every two years. Biden also said he wants a binding code of conduct for the court instead of the current self-enforced system. Additionally he wants to roll back the presidential immunity the court recently granted in a case involving former Republican President Donald Trump.
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Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the presumptive replacement for Biden on the Democratic party’s ticket this fall, endorsed the changes Monday. Though they’re unlikely to advance in the remainder of Biden’s term given the makeup of Congress, Biden’s plan and Harris’ endorsement of it is aimed to sway voters this fall.
The court has become a flashpoint in recent years, from its overturning of Roe v. Wade to reversing 40 years of precedent in the Chevron ruling that weakened federal agencies’ power to write rules enforcing laws.
A spokesperson for Tester, Montana’s senior senator, said Monday that Tester “believes every judge, elected official and government employee should be held accountable to a real code of ethics.”
The Montana State News Bureau asked the state’s delegation and those running for federal office if they supported or opposed Biden’s proposal. Tester’s spokesperson said “he will be reviewing this proposal and any other to bring transparency to the Supreme Court.”
Tester is seeking re-election this year and locked in a tight battle with Republican former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. The outcome of the race could determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Sheehy’s campaign was critical of the proposal, echoing Trump. Last week Trump, who has endorsed Sheehy, posted on Truth Social that “The Radical Left Democrats are desperately trying to ‘Play the Ref’ by calling for an illegal and unconstitutional attack on our SACRED United States Supreme Court.”
In Sheehy’s statement, he said: “The Biden-Harris-Tester regime is working overtime to unilaterally attack the U.S. Supreme Court in a final act of desperation to force through their radical and disastrous liberal agenda,” and went on to raise concerns Democrats would pursue further changes to the court outside what Biden called for.
At a campaign event in Great Falls on Tuesday, Sheehy said Biden’s plan was an attempt to “retool (the court) into a fast track for progressive legislation.”
While Sheehy does support term limits for members of Congress, he said that does not extend to the judiciary.
“We need more accountability and less rogue career politicians and bureaucrats. That’s why one of my first actions as a candidate was signing the term limits pledge. We need to hold the government accountable to serving the people — not themselves,” Sheehy said.
Asked for his comment on Biden’s plans, a spokesperson for Republican Sen. Steve Daines, Montana’s junior senator, said in an emailed statement: “Anytime Democrats don’t get their way, they want to rewrite the rules. The Supreme Court is faithfully doing its job to uphold the Constitution but since the Democrats don’t like the outcome they want to change the institution. Make no mistake, their next step is packing the court with liberal, activist justices.”
The spokesperson did not answer questions about the senator’s support for term limits for members of Congress, however.
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke said on Tuesday that “Congressman Zinke is absolutely opposed to the Biden-Harris plan to overthrow nearly 250 years of judicial and constitutional process. The founding fathers set up the court to be a check and balance and represent gradual change. What the Democrats want to do is pack the courts, change the constitution to fit their political needs, and silence the will of the voters.”
Zinke is seeking re-election in the state’s western district and is facing a challenge from Democrat Monica Tranel, who lost to the Republican two years ago by 3 percentage points.
In an email Monday, Tranel, who is a lawyer, called Biden’s proposal “an important first step in returning fairness to the federal courts.”
Tranel said trust in the courts has been broken.
“We have a 6 to 3 court that, too often, pursues politics over justice. A decade ago, no one knew the result of a case because we waited for Justice Anthony Kennedy to be persuaded by the arguments. Today, we know the votes in favor of a particular outcome before we even have a case. That’s not right.”
Tranel also said she strongly supports term limits for federal justices and lower court judges.
“We see life-time judge positions freely given to lawyers who are 40 and 30 years old, before they have the life experience and before they have the career experience to have the wisdom needed to be a judge,” Tranel said. “Term limits would return us to a place where we promote 50 and 60 year old lawyers–not hand out a lifetime appointment to 30 and 40 year olds so that they pursue a political agenda.”
As for elected officials, Tranel said “the term limit for any elected official is at the ballot box. The voters speak when they want to vote someone out or vote someone in.”
Tranel also said she strongly supports holding Supreme Court justices to the same ethics rules other judges are bound by.
“If you want to be rich, go into private practice. Do not use your position of power to line your own pockets,” Tranel said. She acknowledged any attempt by Biden to bring his efforts now would be dead on arrival in a Republican-led house, but said she’d work with anyone to advance meaningful change and would be open to additional ideas.
U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, who represents the state’s eastern congressional district, said he “completely” disagreed with the proposal.
“Our Supreme Court has stood at nine justices for over 150 years. Biden’s suggestion changes this standard for no other reason than wanting to politicize the Court,” Rosendale said.
While he supports term limits for members of Congress, Rosendale said that they didn’t make sense for the judiciary.
“The legislative and judicial branch are separate branches of government; their entire operations are incredibly different. Simply put, the people elect their member of Congress, and the president selects justices,” Rosendale said. “Term limiting members gives the people more power, term limiting justices gives the executive power. In a government made by and for the people, I will never advocate for giving expanded powers to the executive.”
Rosendale, who is not seeking re-election, also said the GOP-majority House would be a block to any effort to bring legislation to enact Biden’s plan.
“I think this is more of a political ploy during an election year than an actual policy that Congress will agree to. The Republican-majority House of Representatives would never let this pass,” Rosendale said.
Troy Downing, the Republican state auditor running for the eastern House district, said in a statement Tuesday that “President Biden’s attempt to destroy the Supreme Court is outrageous and would set a dangerous precedent if ever enacted. The Supreme Court needs to operate independently and stick to the letter of the law and the Constitution.”
Downing said he didn’t think any of the changes were possible in the remainder of Biden’s term, and he said it was “moot whether (Harris) supports it or not,” adding his criticism of her as a leader.
John Driscoll is the Democrat running in the eastern district. He said he was happy to not see Biden propose to expand the court, as some Republicans have raised concerns about.
“However, I have no problem with limiting terms in place of no terms at all, or with setting external ethical standards,” Driscoll said. “Both will help reinstate confidence in the top of the judicial system. The proposed constitutional amendment overturning unlimited authority for the president will take forever, but procedural existence may help make a gentleman out of Trump should he be re-elected. If he does something outrageous it may hasten the proposed amendment.”
Holly Michels is the head of the Montana State News Bureau. You can reach her at holly.michels@lee.net
