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‘Rot and decay’: Rep Hank Johnson argues SCOTUS term limits are path forward for removing ‘corrupt’ justices

‘Rot and decay’: Rep Hank Johnson argues SCOTUS term limits are path forward for removing ‘corrupt’ justices

Georgia Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson, a strong proponent of Supreme Court reform, says term limits for the justices is a way to eliminate “the possibility of long-term rot and decay” that he argues is present on the high court now.  “Term limits is a way of creating a process that eliminates the possibility of long-term rot and decay due to corporate corruption on the court that we have now with no means of being able to correct it other than impeachment and conviction of a justice,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday. “And if you could not impeach and convict Donald Trump, you’re certainly not going to be able to remove a corrupt Supreme Court justice from office when he or she is doing the bidding of the right-wing forces that put them there in the very beginning.” Johnson, a ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, previously teamed up with Democrats in both the House and Senate to propose court reform bills in an effort to both expand the court and impose term limits on the justices. During Congress’ most recent session, Johnson introduced the Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act (TERM) that would impose 18-year term limits on justices. LEAD COUNSEL HITS NEW DEM EFFORT TO ‘DELEGITIMIZE’ SUPREME COURT AMID SENATOR’S REPORT ON KAVANAUGH PROBE In May 2023, Johnson joined Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as well as Democrat Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Cori Bush, D-Miss., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in reintroducing the Judiciary Act of 2023 that would expand the Supreme Court to a 13-justice bench. The nine-justice court currently has a conservative supermajority. “We want to prevent this kind of rot and decay from ever overtaking a Supreme Court again,” Johnson said. “And term limits would enable that to happen.” KETANJI BROWN JACKSON SAYS SUPREME COURT’S PUBLIC PERCEPTION AS TOO POLITICAL IS ‘PROBLEMATIC’ Johnson went on to say that justices with lifetime tenure become “unaccountable, and they can do whatever they want,” calling the bench “a club of kings and queens who can do whatever they want to do simply because they serve in a third co-equal branch of government.” President Biden previously voiced support for such reform, releasing a statement in late July delineating three specific reforms, one of which called for Congress to approve term limits. Vice President Harris echoed Biden’s sentiments, saying in a statement that reforms were being proposed because “there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court.” JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON SAYS SHE WOULD SUPPORT AN ‘ENFORCEABLE CODE’ OF ETHICS FOR THE SUPREME COURT Johnson said he has yet to have direct conversations with Harris about implementing such reforms in anticipation of the vice president possibly winning the Oval Office in November, but he said she is “aware of the challenge that we face.” “She’s supportive of efforts like my legislation,” Johnson said. “So I look forward to having future conversations with, hopefully, President-elect and future President Kamala Harris and her team.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment. Johnson acknowledged that proposals to reform the court would face an uphill battle toward enactment, with the congressman foreseeing the Senate blocking the measures with a filibuster. “We’re in it for the long haul, and however long it takes, this legislation will be there for consideration,” he said.

Crunch time: Harris to team up with Barack and Michelle Obama next week in key battlegrounds

Crunch time: Harris to team up with Barack and Michelle Obama next week in key battlegrounds

As the 2024 election showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump reaches the home stretch, Harris will team up next week with arguably the two most popular Democrats in the country. The Harris campaign announced on Friday that the vice president will join former President Barack Obama and his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, for get-out-the-vote events in two of the seven crucial battleground states – Georgia and Michigan. According to the campaign, Harris will team up with the Obamas in Georgia on Thursday, Oct. 24. Early voting kicked off in the key southeastern battleground earlier this week and instantly set a new record. Harris advisers also said that the vice president will join forces again on the campaign trail in Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 26, the day that early voting gets underway statewide in the crucial Great Lakes battleground. CAMPAIGN BATTLE BETWEEN THE BILLIONAIRES: MARK CUBAN AND ELON MUSK HIT THE TRAIL FOR HARRIS AND TRUMP This will be the first time that Harris has teamed up with either Obama on the campaign trail since she replaced President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket nearly three months ago.  KAMALA HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH THESE ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICANS  The Obamas – longtime friends of Harris – officially endorsed her for president in July, five days after Biden’s blockbuster announcement that he was dropping his re-election bid and backing his vice president. The former president and former first lady made the case for Harris during back-to-back headlining addresses at the Democratic National Convention in August in their hometown of Chicago. And the former president hit the campaign trail for Harris a week ago, in Pennsylvania – which is arguably the most crucial of all seven battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election.  The former president is scheduled to return to the campaign in the coming days, with stops in Tucson, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, Detroit, Michigan, and Madison, Wisconsin.  CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION With a razor-thin margin of error race for the White House, both the Harris and Trump campaigns are scrambling to win over and turn out voters as early in-person, absentee, and mail-in balloting is now under way in roughly 40 states across the country. The Harris campaign aims to use these campaign events to boost voter enthusiasm among the vice president’s supporters in order to get out the vote ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5, as well as to boost volunteer engagement to help voter turnout. States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person. That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail. Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day. Fox News Digital’s Kellianne Jones and Rémy Numa contributed to this report.  Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.