The White House has issued a statement saying that President Joe Biden plans to sign an executive order to create a dedicated commission that will examine reform of the US Supreme Court, such as changing the "length of service and turnover" of justices, the court’s case selection, and the prospects of changing the size of the top legal body.
The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court will comprise a "bipartisan group of experts", legal and other scholars, former federal judges and practitioners. The group will be co-chaired by former President Barack Obama's White House Counsel, Robert Bauer, and Cristina M. Rodríguez - a Yale Law School professor and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at Department of Justice, also during Obama's tenure.
"To ensure that the Commission’s report is comprehensive and informed by a diverse spectrum of views, it will hold public meetings to hear the views of other experts, and groups and interested individuals with varied perspectives on the issues it will be examining", the statement added.
According to the White House, the Presidential Commission will have around six months to come up with the report on the need for and legality of certain reforms of the US Supreme Court.
The announcement of the plans to reform the US Supreme Court, potentially changing the composition and the size of the panel, comes months after warnings from the Republicans that their political opponents under Joe Biden might attempt to pack the top legal body. According to the GOP, the Democrats will try to narrow the present majority of Republican-appointed justices.
