Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, is set to present a bill this Thursday that aims to counteract the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity, a move that has sparked controversy among conservatives who view it as an overreach of Congressional power.
The bill, dubbed the "No Kings Act," has garnered support from over two dozen Democratic co-sponsors and is a direct rebuttal to the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Trump v. United States. This landmark decision established that presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts carried out during their tenure, as reported by ABC News. However, according to NBC News, Schumer's bill seeks to assert that it is Congress, not the Supreme Court, that should determine the applicability of federal criminal law.
President Joe Biden, earlier this week, unveiled several proposals aimed at restructuring the Supreme Court. These include a constitutional amendment to unequivocally state that "no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office." Biden also suggested implementing term limits for Supreme Court justices and urged Congress to establish a code of conduct for the justices.
In a statement to NBC News, Schumer criticized the Supreme Court's ruling, stating it "threw out centuries of precedent and anointed Trump and subsequent presidents as kings above the law." He further argued that legislation would be the quickest and most effective way to rectify the dangerous precedent set by the Trump ruling. "With this glaring and partisan overreach, Congress has an obligation and a constitutional authority to act as a check and balance to the judicial branch," Schumer added.
Chief Justice John Roberts, in the July 1 decision, wrote, "We conclude that under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power requires that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, argued that the majority's decision effectively placed the President "above the law." Schumer has yet to respond to requests for comment on this contentious issue.
This development raises questions about the balance of power between the branches of government and the extent to which the President should be held accountable for actions taken while in office.
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