Sen Whitehouse, Others Propose More Oversight Over Supreme Court Decisions

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse continues to roll out bills trying to re-mold the US Supreme Court.

Already on the docket is one bill which would install term limits on Supreme Court Justices at 18 years.

Now he and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.

The Senators say that the bill would allow Congress the ability to legislate in response to what Congress believes is a misinterpretation of its intent.

“Six radical justices enacted a bonanza of right-wing policies during the last term, reshaping American life in wildly unpopular ways over just a matter of days. The American people are fed up with policy making by unaccountable Supreme Court justices, and we have a solution,” Whitehouse said. “This important good-government reform would check the activist Court’s rogue decisions by ensuring policy making stays where the Constitution delegated it: in the hands of the American people and their elected representatives.”

The measure would;

--Mirrors the Congressional Review Act by codifying a process for passing new laws in response to Supreme Court decisions that interpret federal statutes or roll back constitutional rights;

--Includes expedited procedures for the Senate to pass these laws by a simple majority;

--Prevents abuse of the process by excluding any “extraneous” changes to federal law, similar to the “Byrd Rule” during the reconciliation process; and

--Ensures that members of the minority party in the Senate have an opportunity to propose alternative updates to the law.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have co-sponsored the bill.

(Photo by Demetrius Freeman-Pool/Getty Images)

Senate Judiciary Committee Hears Testimony From Attorney General Nominee Merrick Garland

Photo: Getty Images


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