{"id":2315507,"date":"2024-07-29T14:13:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T18:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leonard-leo-says-bidens-supreme-court-reforms-should-apply-to-congress-too-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-29T14:19:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T18:19:13","slug":"leonard-leo-says-bidens-supreme-court-reforms-should-apply-to-congress-too-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leonard-leo-says-bidens-supreme-court-reforms-should-apply-to-congress-too-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonard Leo says Biden\u2019s Supreme Court reforms should apply to Congress too &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fleonard-leo-says-bidens-supreme-court-reforms-should-apply-to-congress-too-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2315507&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Leonard Leo, \u2064the conservative co-chairman of\u200c the Federalist\u200d Society, has argued that President \u2064Joe Biden&#8217;s proposed Supreme Court reforms should also be applied\u200d to Congress, which he believes is where &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/potential-for-bribery-media-silent-about-hunter-bidens-anonymous-art-sales\/\" title=\"\u2018Potential For Bribery\u2019: Media Silent About Hunter Biden\u2019s Anonymous \u2018Art\u2019 Sales\">real corruption<\/a>&#8221; lies. Biden&#8217;s plan includes limiting justices&#8217; terms to 18 years, enhancing accountability standards, and amending \u200dthe Constitution to remove presidential immunity for crimes. Leo contends\u200d that\u200b if Democrats genuinely aim for ethics \u2064reform, they should impose strict bans on any gifts to\u200b public officials across all government branches, particularly Congress. Current regulations allow for limited gift acceptance but require disclosure, which has recently been tightened for judges. Leo has previously resisted Senate subpoenas related to inquiries about gifts\u200b received\u2064 by\u2063 conservative \u2062justices, emphasizing that no evidence has shown that \u200csuch gifts influenced judicial decisions. Experts\u200d suggest that Biden&#8217;s judicial reform efforts are unlikely to succeed \u2063due to opposition in the Republican-controlled \u200bHouse and the challenging process of amending the \u200bConstitution. Nonetheless, some Democrats, like Senate Judiciary Committee \u2062Chairman Dick Durbin, \u2063support Biden&#8217;s initiative.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Leonard Leo says Biden&rsquo;s Supreme Court reforms should apply to Congress too<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1714443\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/leonard-a-leo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Leonard Leo<\/a>, the conservative co-chairman of the Federalist Society legal group, argued Monday that President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Joe Biden\">Joe Biden<\/a>&lsquo;s sweeping plans to reform the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Joe Biden\">Supreme Court<\/a> should extend to where the &ldquo;real corruption&rdquo; lies &mdash; within the halls of Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Biden&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3102415\/biden-lays-out-plan-reform-supreme-court-waning-days-presidency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>proposal<\/a> on Monday called for limiting Supreme Court justices&rsquo; terms to a maximum of 18 years rather than a lifetime appointment, creating a mechanism for holding the justices accountable to ethics standards, and ratifying a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president in office. Leo, who held a key role in helping former President Donald Trump choose three justices to the high court, said the reforms were more about &ldquo;Democrats destroying a court they don&rsquo;t agree with.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Joe Biden arrives at the White House from Camp David on July 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a statement, Leo said if Biden and Democrats were &ldquo;truly serious&rdquo; about ethics reform, they would call for bans on &ldquo;all gifts and hospitality of any kind to any public official in any branch of government,&rdquo; including Congress, where he said &ldquo;the real corruption is.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let me be clear: If Democrats want to adopt an across the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-debuts-radical-plan-to-help-dems-pack-the-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Biden Debuts Radical Plan To Help Dems Pack The Supreme Court\">board ethics ban<\/a> 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&rsquo;s all be honest about what this is: a campaign to destroy a court that they disagree with,&rdquo; Leo said in a statement obtained by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Under current rules for both members of Congress and the federal judiciary, lawmakers and judges are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ethics.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/gifts#:~:text=If%20your%20friend%20offers%20you,%24415%20or%20more%20in%20value.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>allowed<\/a> to receive gifts but must report them on their financial disclosures. The federal judiciary last year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/124705\/new-supreme-court-rules-make-it-much-harder-for-justices-to-avoid-reporting-gifts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>adopted<\/a> other changes to its disclosure rules to clarify that judges must disclose stays at commercial properties, such as hotels and resorts, and&nbsp;gifts of hospitality paid for by an entity or third party other than the person providing it.<\/p>\n<p>Leo was one of two targets of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee last year in their investigations into the lavish gifts that have been bestowed to conservative justices in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist Society co-chairman has vowed against complying with any subpoenas by the committee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2963325\/leonard-leo-not-capitulating-durbin-subpoena\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>suggesting<\/a> they are unlawful. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/billionaire-real-estate-investor-taken-to-hospital-for-mental-evaluation-after-posting-gun-videos-on-instagram\/\" title=\"Wealthy real estate mogul hospitalized for mental health evaluation following controversial gun videos on Instagram\">wealthy real estate mogul<\/a> and Republican donor Harlan Crow, who has taken Justice Clarence Thomas on several vacations across the world in years past, agreed to comply with a subpoena last month in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3044446\/senate-committee-drops-probe-harlan-crow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>exchange<\/a> for his investigation being dropped.<\/p>\n<p><em>ProPublica<\/em> also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>&nbsp;in June 2023 that Leo &ldquo;helped organize&rdquo; an Alaskan fishing trip with Justice Samuel Alito and billionaire Paul Singer, noting that &ldquo;Singer and the lodge owner were both major donors to Leo&rsquo;s political groups.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the rigorous efforts by Democrats to lodge complaints and inquiries into conservative justices such as Thomas and Alito, there has been no proof to date that their decisions were influenced by other people or outside organizations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No conservative justice has made any decision in any big case that surprised anyone, so let&rsquo;s stop pretending this is about undue influence,&rdquo; Leo said.<\/p>\n<p>Legal and political experts say Biden&rsquo;s plans to reform the judiciary are highly unlikely to succeed, given that the Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly disagrees with any proposed legislative efforts floated by Biden and the two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment for term limits.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Democrats such as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) applauded Biden&rsquo;s announcement.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I will continue my 12-year effort until it&rsquo;s done, because the highest court in the land cannot have the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spin-cycle-scotus-is-out-of-order\/\" title=\"Spin Cycle: SCOTUS &#039;Out of Order!\">lowest ethical standards<\/a>,&rdquo; Durbin said in an X post.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I thank the President for bringing attention to the Supreme Court&rsquo;s ethical crisis.<\/p>\n<p>I will continue my 12-year effort until it&rsquo;s done, because the highest court in the land cannot have the lowest ethical standards. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1bpZzja6CK\">https:\/\/t.co\/1bpZzja6CK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenatorDurbin\/status\/1817944952195727523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Biden is expected to make his first comments on the reform plans on Monday afternoon during a planned address at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.<\/p>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1714443\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1714443\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leonard Leo, the conservative co-chair of the Federalist Society, stated on Monday that President Joe Biden&#8217;s extensive plans to reform the Supreme Court should also address what he sees as &#8220;real corruption&#8221; in Congress. Biden&#8217;s proposal includes limiting Supreme Court justices&#8217; terms to 18 years instead of a lifetime appointment, establishing accountability mechanisms for justices regarding ethical standards, and endorsing a constitutional amendment to eliminate presidential immunity for crimes committed while in office. Leo, who played a significant role in helping former President Donald Trump appoint three justices to the court, claimed that these reforms are primarily aimed at &#8220;Democrats destroying a court they don\u2019t agree with.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>In his statement, Leo suggested that if Biden and the Democrats were genuinely committed to ethics reform, they would advocate for prohibiting all gifts and hospitality for public officials across all branches of government\u2014including Congress\u2014where he believes true corruption exists. He expressed support for an overarching ethics ban applicable to all branches: \u201cno jets, no meals, no speaking honorariums,\u201d emphasizing that until such measures are endorsed by Democrats, their actions appear aimed at undermining a court with which they disagree.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, both members of Congress and federal judges can accept gifts but must disclose them on financial reports. Last year saw changes in judicial disclosure rules requiring judges to report stays at commercial properties and hospitality gifts from third parties. Leo was one of two individuals targeted by Senate Democrats last year during investigations into extravagant gifts received by conservative justices recently.<\/p>\n<p>Despite ongoing Democratic inquiries into potential influences on conservative justices like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito\u2014none have proven their decisions were swayed by outside entities or individuals. Legal experts believe Biden\u2019s judiciary reform proposals face significant challenges due to opposition from the Republican-controlled House and the requirement of a two-thirds majority for constitutional amendments.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, some Democrats like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin praised Biden\u2019s announcement as part of an ongoing effort toward improving ethical standards within the highest court. Biden is expected to comment further on his reform plans during an address commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act later this afternoon in Austin, Texas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2315508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP18183741004945-1024x691.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3620,4402,36545,32275,32076],"class_list":["post-2315507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-biden","tag-congress","tag-leonard-leo","tag-supreme-court","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP18183741004945-1024x691.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2315507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2315507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2315507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2315507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2315507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}