Biden reaffirms call for supreme court reforms in speech marking Civil Rights Act anniversary – as it happened
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President cites supreme court decisions that he says eroded civil rights, including presidential immunity ruling and overturning of Roe. This blog is now closed
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
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.”
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”.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Joe Biden arrives on Air Force One at Austin-Bergstrom international airport. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Sheryl Cole poses for a photograph with Biden. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Donna Howard greets Biden as he arrives in Austin. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
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.
