Biden unveils long-shot plan to overhaul US Supreme Court

U.S. president Joe Biden unveiled plans Monday for sweeping U.S. Supreme Court reforms, as he seeks to cement his legacy in the twilight of his presidency despite Republicans branding the proposals dead on arrival.

Stung by shock rulings on abortion and other topics and by a series of scandals involving the conservative-dominated court, Biden called for 18-year term limits for justices and an enforceable ethics code.

"Extremism is undermining public confidence in the court's decisions," Biden said in a speech outlining the "bold" plans at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.

Making his first speech on the road since dropping out of the 2024 election, Biden also proposed a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court's recent ruling backing Donald Trump's claims of presidential immunity.

"There are no kings in America," he said at the library — which celebrates the legacy of Johnson, or LBJ, the last incumbent U.S. president not to seek a second term back in 1968.

Biden's move follows a series of shock Supreme Court decisions, especially the 2022 repeal of the nationwide right to abortion, an issue which has become crucial in November's election.

Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement that she and Biden both called on Congress to support the plans.

"These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law," she said.

But Biden's proposals have almost no hope of getting through a deeply divided U.S. Congress, with Republicans holding a majority in the House of Representatives.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement that...