Sam Levine has analyzed Biden’s speech in Austin. He writes: “The reforms themselves are significant, but just a small sliver of what activists and others have been pushing for over the last few years.”
Read more from Sam here:
Summary
Here are a few of the key events from the world of politics today:
Joe Biden delivered a speech at an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the US Civil Rights Act. During the talk, he warned of the dangers of the supreme court’s extremism and promised reforms on term limits, the ethics code and a recent ruling on presidential immunity.
House speaker Mike Johnson and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the seven Republicans and six Democrats who will sit on the taskforce to investigate the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
Kamala Harris’s election campaign has accused Elon Musk of spreading “manipulated lies” after the Tesla chief executive posted a doctored video featuring the vice-president on his Twitter/X account.
A trial looming in a lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s abortion ban was canceled Monday as the judge in the case, state district judge Bruce Romanick, weighs whether to throw out the lawsuit. It was not immediately clear why the trial was canceled.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer told a CBS interviewer that she has not been a part of the vetting process for Kamala Harris’s running mate. But she expects the presumptive Democratic nominee to announce her vice-presidential pick “in the next six, seven days”.
Updated
Biden says supreme court's actions have eroded trust of US residents
In an over 20-minute speech, Joe Biden talked about the enduring legacy of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the inspiration he took from Lyndon B Johnson. The bulk of the speech, however, focused on the US supreme court and actions that Biden said have eroded the trust US residents have in the high court.
He also nodded to Project 2025, a roadmap led by the rightwing Heritage Foundation that details how the Trump administration can disrupt and dismantle the US. “By the way, they’re serious, man,” Biden said of Project 2025.
He also emphasized his commitment to the changes to the supreme court he spelled out in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post on Monday. His proposal would:
Establish 18-year term limits for all justices
Create a code of ethics that includes requirements to disclose gifts and refrain from public political actions
Pass a new constitutional amendment that would virtually reverse the
supreme court decision in July granting former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office
Updated
Biden just completed his speech and reaffirmed his proposed changes to the supreme court.
One of his proposed changes is to reverse the recent immunity decision poses, which he says gives the president room to “violate our oath, flout our laws, and face no consequences”.
On the issue of term limits, Biden argued that an 18-year cap would make the timing of nominations less “arbitrary” and limit the ability of the president to influence the makeup of the body.
He is also seeking a new code of conduct that will replace the current one that is optional for justices. This new edict would require justices to disclose gifts, recuse themselves from cases that they or their spouses have an interest in, and “refrain from public political activity”, Biden said.
Updated
Joe Biden is calling out supreme court decisions that he says have eroded civil rights.
They include the 2013 Shelby County decision that gutted civil rights, the 2022 decision that overturned Roe v Wade, and most recently a decision that gives presidents broad immunity. These actions, Biden said, fly in the face of the notion that “there are no kings in America … No one is above the law.”
“Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court’s decisions,” Biden added.
Updated
At the top of his speech Joe Biden emphasized his admiration for Lyndon B Johnson and reiterated the promises made by his signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The president told the audience:
In a great society no one should be left behind … It’s time for us to come to see that every American gets a decent break and a fair chance to make good.
Updated
Joe Biden is now on the stage, he was introduced by Andrew Young, a former congressman and ambassador to the United Nations. Biden walked out to the song Glory, performed by John Legend and Common for the 2015 film Selma.
The live stream is here.
Updated
We are still waiting for Joe Biden to take the stage. Less than an hour ago, he arrived in Austin and was greeted by several local and state lawmakers.
Currently, Mark Updegrove, the president and CEO of the Lyndon B Johnson Foundation, the group hosting the Civil Rights Act commemoration event, is giving a speech about the organization’s history and legacy.
Updated
As we await the arrival of Joe Biden on the stage, here are some of the images being sent to us on the newswires of the president arriving in Austin earlier today.
He was met by Democratic state representatives Sheryl Cole and Donna Howard before heading to the LBJ library.
Updated
There was music from the concert choir of Huston-Tillotson University, followed by the actor Bryan Cranston reading an excerpt from the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Updated
The event marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act is being held at the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) library in Austin, Texas.
It began with a short film showing previous presidents’ remarks on civil rights, including Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
Updated
Joe Biden expected to talk about supreme court reform at Civil Rights Act anniversary event
Joe Biden is expected to announce three proposed reforms to the US supreme court.
In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Monday, the president called for three primary changes to the high court.
Eighteen-year term limits
A binding code of ethics
A new constitutional amendment that would virtually reverse a supreme court decision in July granting former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office
Biden’s speech comes on the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Hello, I’m Abené Clayton running the blog from Los Angeles. We’ll bring you the latest news and reaction.
Updated
A trial looming in a lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s abortion ban was canceled Monday as the judge in the case, state district judge Bruce Romanick, weighs whether to throw out the lawsuit. It was not immediately clear why the trial was canceled.
The notice comes nearly a week after the state and plaintiffs, who include the formerly sole abortion clinic in North Dakota, made their pitches to the judge as to why he should dismiss the two-year-old case, or continue to trial, the Associated Press reports. The trial was due to begin late August.
North Dakota outlaws abortion as a felony crime for people who perform the procedure, but with exceptions to prevent the mother’s death or a “serious health risk” to her, as well as for cases of rape or incest within the first six weeks.
The plaintiffs, which include the Red River Women’s Clinic and doctors trained in obstetrics, gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine, alleged the abortion ban violates the state constitution because it is unconstitutionally vague about its exceptions for doctors and that its health exception is too narrow. They wanted the trial to proceed.
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Kamala Harris highlighted endorsements from mayors of border towns in swing state Arizona today as she looks to blunt the impact of Republican criticism of her handling of illegal border crossings.
Harris’s campaign for president said she was backed by the mayors of Bisbee, Nogales, Somerton, and San Luis, as well as by Yuma county supervisors Martin Porchas and Tony Reyes, the Associated Press reports.
Republicans say Harris did not do enough as US vice-president to clamp down on illegal immigration.
I trust her to meet the needs of border cities and towns without taking advantage of us for her own political gain, like her opponent,” the Somerton mayor, Gerardo Anaya, said in a statement. Somerton is a city of about 14,000 people in the state’s southwestern corner.
As vice-president, Harris was tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts to deal with issues spurring migration in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as pressing them to strengthen enforcement on their own borders. The Biden administration wanted to develop and put in place a long-term strategy that gets at the root causes of migration from those countries.
Border arrests have fallen from record highs last December.
Read my colleague Lauren Gambino’s piece on Harris’s record on immigration policy, here.
Updated
The Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, whose state borders Iowa, has also extended a welcome to Iowa residents who are in need of reproductive healthcare, as Iowa’s strict six-week abortion ban took effect on Monday.
Walz, in a post to X, wrote:
In Minnesota, we take care of our neighbors. It’s just what we do. As our neighbors in Iowa are stripped of their fundamental rights, my message is clear: Your reproductive freedom will remain protected in Minnesota.
In Minnesota, we take care of our neighbors. It’s just what we do.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) July 29, 2024
As our neighbors in Iowa are stripped of their fundamental rights, my message is clear: Your reproductive freedom will remain protected in Minnesota.
Updated
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, and minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, have announced the seven Republicans and six Democrats who will sit on the taskforce to investigate the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
The Republican chair of the panel will be the congressman Mike Kelly, who represents the Pennsylvania town of Butler where the shooting took place.
The Democratic ranking member will be the Colorado congressman Jason Crow, who sits on the House intelligence and foreign affairs committee.
Johnson, in a statement posted to X, said he and Jeffries “have the utmost confidence in this group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress”.
🧵Today, I’m announcing the seven Republicans who will serve on the Bipartisan House Task Force to investigate the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. We have the utmost confidence in this group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress:
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 29, 2024
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The Iowa ban, which takes effect today, permits abortions past six weeks in cases of rape or incest, or in medical emergencies.
Fourteen other states, including much of the midwest, enacted near-total bans on abortion since the US supreme court overturned Roe.
Three other states – Georgia, South Carolina and Florida – have banned abortion past about six weeks of pregnancy.
Roe’s demise led to surge in support for abortion rights, even in red states. Sixty-one per cent of Iowans, including 70% of women, say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll found last year.
Updated
A six-week abortion ban went into effect in Iowa on Monday, cutting off access to the procedure before many women know they are pregnant.
The Republican-dominated Iowa state legislature passed the ban last year, but a lengthy court battle initially stopped it from taking effect. Last month, the Iowa supreme court ruled that the ban could be enforced, leading a lower-court judge to order the ban to take effect at 8am local time.
Leah Vanden Bosch, development and outreach director of the Iowa Abortion Access Fund, said in a statement:
The upholding of this abortion ban in Iowa is an absolute devastation and violation of human rights, depriving Iowans of their bodily autonomy. We know a ban will not stop the need for abortions.
Up until Sunday, abortion had been legal in Iowa up to roughly 22 weeks of pregnancy. Now, abortion clinics in the state have indicated that they will continue offering the procedure to the legal limit.
The closest options for Iowans who want abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will probably be Minnesota and Illinois, Democratic-run states that border Iowa and that have become abortion havens since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022.
The Iowa ban permits abortions past six weeks in cases of rape or incest, or in medical emergencies.
Updated
Possible Harris running mates condemn Iowa's six-week abortion law
Two Democratic state governors who are being considered by Kamala Harris’s campaign as her potential running mate, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and JB Pritzker of Illinois, have criticized the strict six-week abortion ban that went into effect in Iowa today.
Shapiro directly blamed Donald Trump for the Iowa law, and urged voters not to re-elect the Republican former president.
Another abortion ban brought to you by Donald Trump.
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) July 29, 2024
We cannot let him back in the White House and we must restore every woman's freedom to choose. https://t.co/fBTV4ANGII
Pritzker, whose state borders Iowa, welcomed Iowa residents to visit Illinois if the new law blocks their access to “whatever care they need”. He added:
Please know – as you work to maneuver around this dangerous and unjust law – we are here for you.
Iowa’s disturbing 6-week abortion ban goes into effect today. Here in Illinois, we will welcome our Iowan neighbors for reproductive freedom and whatever care they need.
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) July 29, 2024
Please know - as you work to maneuver around this dangerous and unjust law - we are here for you.
Updated
Questions continued to mount about the political transformation of Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, after the release of emails from a former friend in which Vance called Trump a “morally reprehensible human being” and said: “I hate the police.”
The messages between Vance and Sofia Nelson, who sent them to the New York Times, were largely dated between 2014 and 2017. In one, Vance sent Nelson a section of Hillbilly Elegy, his bestseller about his Appalachian boyhood. Vance wrote:
Here’s an excerpt from my book. I send this to you not just to brag, but because I’m sure if you read it you’ll notice reference to ‘an extremely progressive lesbian’. I recognise now that this may not accurately reflect how you think of yourself, and for that I am really sorry. I hope you’re not offended, but if you are, I’m sorry! Love you, JD.
Read the full story here: JD Vance calls Trump ‘morally reprehensible’ in resurfaced emails
As the Iowa six-week abortion ban takes effect today, Kamala Harris’s campaign is launching a “Fight for Reproductive Freedom week of action” with events across key battleground states.
The Harris campaign said the week of action would help voters “understand all that’s at stake for reproductive rights in this election”.
The Reproductive Freedom for All CEO, Mini Timmaraju, the reproductive rights activist Hadley Duvall and the radio host Ryan Hamilton will appear at the reproductive rights events, according to the Harris campaign.
The second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, will also host a reproductive freedom event in New Hampshire on Wednesday evening.
Updated
Harris slams 'Trump abortion ban' as Iowa's six-week abortion ban takes effect
Kamala Harris has condemned a six-week abortion ban that takes effect in Iowa today, calling it a “Trump abortion ban”.
From Monday, most abortions are prohibited in the state after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
In a video statement, Harris said:
Today, Iowa put in place a Trump abortion ban, which makes Iowa the 22nd state in our country to have a Trump abortion ban. And this ban is going to take effect before many women even know they’re pregnant. And what this means is that one in three women of reproductive age in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban.
More than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America now live in a state with a Trump abortion ban.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 29, 2024
When I am President of the United States, I will sign a law restoring and protecting reproductive freedom in every state. pic.twitter.com/ka8f8zI145
Updated
Hillary Clinton welcomes supreme court reform push
Hillary Clinton has welcomed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s “commonsense” calls to reform the supreme court.
The former secretary of state, in a post to X, said these proposals will “repair [the] promise” that no one is above the law, and help to “restore the American people’s lost trust in the Court”.
One of the first principles of our republic is that no one is above the law. President Biden and Vice President Harris's common-sense proposals to reform the Supreme Court will repair that promise and begin to restore the American people's lost trust in the Court.…
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 29, 2024
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Kamala Harris’s election campaign has accused Elon Musk of spreading “manipulated lies” after the Tesla chief executive posted a doctored video featuring the vice-president on his X account.
Musk reposted a manipulated Harris campaign video on Friday evening in which a fake Harris voiceover says: “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” and that anyone who criticises her is “both sexist and racist”.
The video has been viewed 128m times on Musk’s account after the world’s richest man posted it with the words “this is amazing” followed by a laughing emoji. Musk owns X, which he rebranded from Twitter last year.
Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator, accused Musk of violating the platform’s guidelines. According to X’s synthetic and manipulated media policy, users are barred from sharing “synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm” although allowances are made for satire provided it does not “cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media”.
A spokesperson for Harris’s presidential campaign said:
The American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice-President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Updated
Democratic chair of Senate justice committee backs Biden reform call
Dick Durbin, the Democratic chair of the Senate judiciary committee, has voiced support for Joe Biden’s call for supreme court reforms.
Durbin, in a statement posted to X, wrote:
If Chief Justice Roberts won’t use his existing authority to implement an enforceable code of conduct, Congress must. We should use our established authority to require the Court to implement reforms consistent with *every* other federal court.
I thank the President for bringing attention to the Supreme Court’s ethical crisis.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) July 29, 2024
I will continue my 12-year effort until it’s done, because the highest court in the land cannot have the lowest ethical standards. https://t.co/1bpZzja6CK
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The Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, in the CBS interview, said she has not been a part of the vetting process for Kamala Harris’s running mate.
Whitmer said:
I have communicated with everyone, including the people of Michigan, that I’m going to stay as governor until the end of my term at the end of 2026.
Whitmer was touted as a potential replacement for Joe Biden before he exited the race and endorsed Harris last week.
In the interview this morning, Whitmer pushed back on the idea that Harris’s running mate must be a white man:
Every one of us was told there may be too many women on the ticket. Baloney. We’ve proved that wrong in the swingingest of swing states.
Updated
Harris likely to announce running mate 'in the next six, seven days', says Whitmer
Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan rumored to be in the running for Kamala Harris’s potential ticket mate, has said she expects the vice-president to announce her running mate “in the next six, seven days”.
Whitmer, in an interview on CBS, said:
Everything’s truncated, and [Harris] is going to make that decision probably in the next six, seven days. I would imagine we’ll know who her running mate is, and we’ll get ready for convention.
VP Kamala Harris is going to announce her running mate “probably, in the next 6, 7 days,” campaign co-chair @GovWhitmer tells CBS Mornings.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) July 29, 2024
She adds that she believes Harris' running mate does not need to be a White man in order for her to win. https://t.co/qcj6TcLdJz pic.twitter.com/GV4GsZ5drf
Updated
Biden critic Leo has played key role in moving court to the right
Leonard Leo, the rightwing dark money organizer who just issued a statement slamming Joe Biden’s call for supreme court reforms, has played a key role in the conservative effort to move the judiciary to the right.
Leo’s advocacy and financial network played a major role in Donald Trump’s judicial nominations and confirmation hearings as part of his years-long push to make the courts more friendly to conservatives and their causes.
Justice Clarence Thomas once joked that Leo was the “No 3 most powerful person in the world”.
Leo is a Catholic conservative activist widely known as the force behind the Federalist Society, which has helped transform the US courts system, ultimately through the installation of three hardline justices on the supreme court that has handed down epochal rulings on abortion rights, presidential immunity and more.
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Rightwing donor hits out at Biden over supreme court reforms
Leonard Leo, the rightwing donor, has hit back at Joe Biden’s call for supreme court reforms, saying they were about “Democrats destroying a court they don’t agree with”.
Leo, in a statement, said that if Biden and the Democrats were “truly serious” about ethics reform, they would calls for bans on “all gifts and hospitality of any kind to any public official in any branch of government”, including in Congress, where he said “the real corruption is”. He concluded:
Let me be clear: If Democrats want to adopt an across the board ethics ban for all branches, I am in favor of that: no jets, no meals, no speaking honorariums, no gifts for anyone from anyone for any reason in any branch, starting with Congress. Until they support that, let’s all be honest about what this is: a campaign to destroy a court that they disagree with.
INBOX: Statement from Leonard Leo Regarding President Biden’s Supreme Court Announcement (endorsed by Kamala Harris):
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 29, 2024
“No conservative justice has made any decision in any big case that surprised anyone, so let’s stop pretending this is about undue influence. It’s about…
Updated
Joe Biden, in his proposals for supreme court reform, also called for a binding, enforceable code of ethics.
The president “believes that Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest,” according to a White House statement.
Supreme Court Justices should not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.
Updated
Joe Biden’s proposals also call for limiting a supreme court justice’s term to a maximum of 18 years rather than the current lifetime appointment, under a system where a new justice would be appointed to the supreme court by the serving president every two years.
Term limits would help “reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come,” according to a White House statement.
Congress approved term limits for the Presidency over 75 years ago, and President Biden believes they should do the same for the Supreme Court. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court Justices.
The White House has detailed a series of sweeping changes to the supreme court proposed by Joe Biden, which include introduction of term limits for justices and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.
The reforms include a “No One Is Above the Law Amendment”, in which Biden calls for a constitutional amendment that “makes clear no president is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office”.
The amendment would state that the US constitution “does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as president”.
If approved, the amendment would in effect reverse a supreme court decision in July granting former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office, a decision Donald Trump hailed as a “BIG WIN” amid his legal travails.
Updated
The news that Donald Trump has agreed to a victim interview with the FBI comes after the agency confirmed a bullet or a fragment of a bullet struck the former president’s ear.
In a statement on Friday, the FBI said:
What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.
The statement marked the most definitive law enforcement account of Trump’s injuries and followed ambiguous comments earlier in the week from the agency’s director, Christopher Wray, that appeared to cast doubt on whether Trump had been hit by a bullet or whether he was instead struck by shrapnel.
Kamala Harris raised $200m in the week since she was endorsed by Joe Biden, her team said, as the vice-president appears to be drawing increased enthusiasm to her campaign.
Harris for President said about 66% of the total came from first-time donors, as the campaign said it had seen “unprecedented grassroots support”.
On Sunday Al Gore, the former vice-president and a climate activist, endorsed Harris, while more than 170,000 volunteers have signed up to help the Harris campaign with phone banking, canvassing and other get-out-the-vote efforts, said Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director.
It comes after Harris raised $81m in the 24 hours after she was endorsed by Biden, a record sum. The donation news comes after Harris attended a fundraiser in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday. The event had been organized when the president was still the presumptive nominee, and had originally been expected to raise $400,000, but ended up bringing in about $1.4m, according to the Harris campaign.
Future Forward, the largest Super Pac in Democratic politics, announced last week it had secured $150m in donations over the first 24 hours after Biden dropped out of the race.
Trump gunman searched for information on shooting of Slovakian leader - FBI
Donald Trump’s interview with the FBI “will be consistent with any victim interview we do”, an agency official said.
Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said a local police identified the gunman about an hour before Trump spoke that day and took a photo.
The FBI official also revealed new details about the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks.
Crooks conducted Internet searches into previous mass shooting events, improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, earlier this year.
Despite hundreds of interviews, the FBI said it has yet to identify a motive for the shooting.
The gunman’s parents, described as having been “extremely cooperative” with investigators, said they had no knowledge of Crooks’s plans, Rojek said.
Updated
Biden's supreme court reform proposals 'dead on arrival in the House', says Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, has warned that Joe Biden’s proposals to reform the supreme court will be “dead on arrival” in the House.
Biden’s proposed reforms include introducing term limits for supreme court justices, a binding code of conduct and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.
Johnson, in a statement, said:
President Biden’s proposal to radically overhaul the US supreme court would tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.
This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris administration and congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the supreme court. Their calls to expand and pack the court will soon resume.
It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the court’s recent decisions. This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris administration is dead on arrival in the House.
Updated
Trump agrees to FBI interview after assassination attempt
Donald Trump has agreed to participate in a victim interview with the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination, an agency official said.
The interview is part of the FBI’s standard protocol to speak with victims of federal crimes during the course of their investigations.
Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters:
We want to get his perspective on what he observed.
Updated
Harris backs Biden's supreme court reforms
Kamala Harris has endorsed Joe Biden’s push for supreme court reforms that include term limits for justices, a binding code of conduct and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.
“President Biden and I strongly believe that the American people must have confidence in the supreme court,” she said in a statement.
Yet today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the supreme court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent.
Harris added:
These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the court, strengthen our democracy and ensure no one is above the law.
Joe Biden is expected to speak about his new supreme court reform proposals at an address later today at the LBJ presidential library in Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
The president, in a national address from the Oval Office last week, pledged that overhauling the supreme court would be a priority. Biden said:
I’m going to call for supreme court reform because this is critical to our democracy.
Updated
Joe Biden, in an op-ed this morning, said supreme court justices should be limited to a maximum of 18 years’ service rather than the current lifetime appointment, under a system where a new justice would be appointed to the court by the serving president every two years.
The president also called for stricter, enforceable rules on conduct which would require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial interest.
Last week Justice Elena Kagan called for the court to strengthen the ethics code it introduced in 2023 by adding a way to enforce it.
That code was introduced after a spate of scandals involving rightwing justices on the court: Clarence Thomas was found to have accepted vacations and travel from a Republican mega-donor, while Samuel Alito flew on a private jet owned by an influential billionaire on the way to a fishing trip.
'No one is above the law': Biden calls for supreme court reform plans
Joe Biden has called for a series of reforms to to the supreme court, including the introduction of 18-year term limits and a binding code of conduct for justices.
Biden, in an op-ed for the Washington Post, also called for a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.
The proposed amendment, titled the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment”, comes after the supreme court’s ruling earlier this month that Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts” he committed as president.
In the op-ed published today, Biden wrote:
This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one.
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Trump's remarks a 'promise to end American democracy', says Harris campaign
The Harris campaign responded by saying that Donald Trump’s remarks to Christian supporters were a “promise to end democracy”.
A statement from the Harris campaign read:
When Vice President Harris says this election is about freedom she means it. Our democracy is under assault by criminal Donald Trump.
Trump “has promised violence if he loses, the end of our elections if he wins, and the termination of the Constitution to empower him to be a dictator to enact his dangerous Project 2025 agenda on America”, the campaign warns.
Donald Trump wants to take America backward, to a politics of hate, chaos, and fear – this November America will unite around Vice President Kamala Harris to stop him.
Our statement on Trump last night promising to end American democracy https://t.co/URjtvFCsg2 pic.twitter.com/KAMPPxDr9E
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 27, 2024
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Cardi B, the New York rap superstar, posted a clip of Donald Trump’s rally speech asking if the former president was “whistleblowing a dictatorship?”
Whistle blowing a dictatorship ?🤔 https://t.co/k8HHaWO9jg
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) July 27, 2024
Cardi has previously suggested she will not be voting for Trump or Joe Biden, telling Rolling Stone that she saw Trump’s presidency as a major threat but felt “layers and layers of disappointment” during the Biden administration.
The rapper revoked her support for Biden last November over US military aid to Ukraine and Israel.
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Republicans dismiss comments as 'classic Trumpism'
Asked to clarify Donald Trump’s remarks, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the former Republican president “was talking about uniting this country”.
Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, dismissed Trump’s comments in an interview with ABC.
“I think it was a classic Trumpism if you will,” Sununu said, adding:
Obviously we want everybody to vote in all elections, but I think he was just trying to make a hyperbolic point that it can be fixed as long as he gets back into office and all that.
Tom Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, said Trump was “obviously making a joke”. Cotton told CNN:
I think he’s obviously making a joke about how bad things have been under Joe Biden and how good they will be if we send President Trump back to the White House, so we can turn the country around again.
.@SenTomCotton says Trump was “obviously making a joke” when he told a gathering of conservative Christians “you won’t have to vote anymore” if he wins. pic.twitter.com/dTTpn9UFy8
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) July 28, 2024
Lindsey Graham, a senator for South Carolina, told CBS that Trump was telling supporters that “the nightmare that we’re experiencing will soon be over. Give me four more years, and I’m gonna right this ship called America and pass it on to the next generation.” Graham added:
We will have democracy, God willing, for a very long time in this country. But what President Trump is trying to tell people – ‘I did it once, I can do it again.
.@LindseyGrahamSC responds to Donald Trump's recent rally comments that Americans "won't have to vote anymore" if he's elected again: "We will have democracy, God willing, for a very long time in this country. But what President Trump is trying to tell people — 'I did it once, I… pic.twitter.com/F19C8T0OZO
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 28, 2024
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Dan Goldman, a Democratic congressman for New York, posted to X that “the only way ‘you won’t have to vote anymore’ is if Donald Trump becomes a dictator.”
The only way “you won’t have to vote anymore” is if Donald Trump becomes a dictator. https://t.co/wrjNCAUxs6
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) July 27, 2024
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Donald Trump’s remarks to Christian supporters came months after he said he would be “a dictator on day one” if he is re-elected to the White House.
The former president, during a December town hall event in Iowa hosted by the Fox News host Sean Hannity, was asked repeatedly to deny that he would abuse power to seek revenge on political opponents if given a second term.
“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked Trump in the interview.
“Except for day one,” Trump responded. He said that on the “day one” he referred to, he would use his presidential powers to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.
Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of Hannity.
He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’
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Adam Schiff, the high-profile California Democrat and Senate candidate, posted to X a clip of Donald Trump’s speech, writing:
“This year democracy is on the ballot, and if we are to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism. Here Trump helpfully reminds us that the alternative is never having the chance to vote again.
This year democracy is on the ballot, and if we are to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) July 27, 2024
Here Trump helpfully reminds us that the alternative is never having the chance to vote again. https://t.co/eQqYdtm61D
Donald Trump’s remarks that supporters won’t “have to vote again” if he is re-elected in November were immediately met with consternation in some political quarters.
The constitutional and civil rights attorney Andrew Seidel, for instance, replied to video of Trump’s comments circulating on X by writing:
This is not subtle Christian nationalism. He’s talking about ending our democracy and installing a Christian nation.
He's talking to "my beautiful Christians" here. And saying they won't have to vote again. This is not subtle Christian Nationalism, he's talking about ending our democracy and installing a Christian nation. https://t.co/6vmzel9SAE
— Andrew L. Seidel (@AndrewLSeidel) July 27, 2024
The actor Morgan Fairchild added in a separate X post:
But … what if I want to vote again?? I was always raised that we get to vote again! That is America.
BUT...what if I WANT to vote again?? I was always raised that we got to vote again! That is AMERICA... https://t.co/OOvyTWIOB5
— Morgan Fairchild (@morgfair) July 27, 2024
And the NBC legal commentator Katie Phang said:
In other words, Trump won’t ever leave the White House if he gets re-elected.
🚨 In other words, Trump won’t ever leave the White House if he gets re-elected https://t.co/NiD4lKRiu8
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) July 27, 2024
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Here’s a clip from Donald Trump’s speech at the rally on Friday night hosted in West Palm Beach, Florida, by the far-right Christian advocacy group Turning Point Action.
The former president and Republican presidential nominee told supporters:
Christians, get out and vote! Just this time – you won’t have to do it any more … You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians.
He added:
I love you. Get out – you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.
Trump: “Christians, get out and vote! Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine! You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians! I’m a Christian” pic.twitter.com/BFcFlBlMwz
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 27, 2024
Trump faces backlash after telling supporters they 'won't have to vote again' if he wins
Democratic lawmakers and Kamala Harris’s campaign joined a chorus of critics sounding the alarm over recent remarks by Donald Trump telling a crowd of supporters they won’t “have to vote again” if they return him to the presidency in November’s election.
Trump, at a Friday night rally hosted in Florida by a far-right Christian advocacy group, said:
Christians, get out and vote! Just this time – you won’t have to do it any more … You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.
Trump’s remarks were immediately met with consternation in some political quarters, with some arguing that the Republican presidential nominee had implied that that he would end elections in the country if he returns to the White House.
The Harris campaign called Trump’s remarks “a vow to end democracy”, while the Democratic California congressman Adam Schiff, posted to X:
This year democracy is on the ballot, and if we are to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
The Senate is in this week. The House is out.
Joe Biden will head to Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. He will then travel to Houston to pay his respects to Sheila Jackson Lee, the Democratic Texas congresswoman who died from pancreatic cancer last week.
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