Americans are tired of Supreme Court justices âwho think they are beyond accountability,â said the Senateâs Democrat leader.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on July 8 that last weekâs Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity put âa crown on Donald Trumpâs head.â The lawmaker said he is preparing legislation aimed at lessening the decisionâs impact on prosecutions against the former president over allegations related to the 2020 election aftermath.
The Supreme Courtâs decision is expected to complicate the prosecutionâs criminal case against the former Republican president, who is his partyâs presumptive 2024 presidential nominee. Former President Trump faces election-related charges in federal court in Washington and in state court in Fulton County, Georgia.
âWe Democrats will not let the Supreme Courtâs decision stand unaddressed. The Constitution makes plain that Congress has the authority to check the judiciary through appropriate legislation,â Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor.
âI will work with my colleagues on legislation classifying Trumpâs election-subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity. Weâre doing this because we believe that in America, no president should be free to overturn an election against the will of the people, no matter what the conservative justices may believe.â
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) responded on the Senate floor, saying Democrats had the wrong take on the immunity decision.
âTheir problem with the Supreme Court isnât that they wonât be able to prosecute a president for unofficial criminal activityâbecause they still can. Their problem is that they wonât be able to prosecute official actions that they donât like,â Mr. McConnell said.
âProminent Democrats seem to look at the successful criminalization of political disagreement in places like Europe and South America and think: âThey might just be onto something.ââ
âUnder our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,â Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court in the July 1 opinion.
âAnd he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.â
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the court âmakes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.â
While Democrats fear that the Supreme Court decision could see former President Trump cleared of the election interference charges, the majority decision didnât specifically address special counsel Jack Smithâs case. Instead, it sent the election case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for further consideration, after which it may return to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington.
In the Senate, Mr. Schumer added that Democrats will continue working on other proposals aimed at restoring the constitutional authority of Congress âto rein in the abuses of our federal judiciary.â
Senate Democrats are pushing the proposed Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (SCERT), which would impose new rules on how the nationâs highest court operates.
The bill, which is opposed by Republicans, would allow members of the public to file complaints against justices and create a panel of lower court judges with subpoena powers to investigate.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Supreme Court for comment.
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