美国总统乔·拜登周一参观了LBJ总统图书馆，纪念民权法案60周年，并就他改革美国最高法院的新提议发表了讲话。
这番话是拜登自上周在椭圆形办公室就他决定退出2024年竞选发表讲话以来的第一次重要讲话。
在德克萨斯州的奥斯汀，他讨论了他的政府在保护公民权利方面的工作，以及他对美国最高法院改革的呼吁，包括任期限制和可强制执行的法官行为准则，以及反对总统豁免权的宪法修正案，所有这些都面临着国会批准共和党控制的众议院和分歧严重的参议院的长期可能性。
“近年来，最高法院发布的极端意见破坏了长期确立的公民权利原则和保护，”拜登说。
“我尊重宪法中规定的制度和分权，但现在发生的事情与分权原则不一致。极端主义正在破坏公众对法院判决的信心，”他继续说道，列举了最近的判决，称这些判决“破坏了长期确立的公民权利原则和保护”，他说这些判决引导他提出了改革建议
拜登说:“最近，也是最令人震惊的是，最高法院在特朗普诉美国一案中确立了一个危险的先例。”。“如你所知，他们裁定美国总统对他在任期间可能犯下的潜在罪行享有豁免权，豁免权。这个国家建立在美国没有国王的原则上。我们每个人在法律面前都是平等的。任何人都不能凌驾于法律之上!”
周一讲话的背景也很重要，因为拜登是自林登·约翰逊(Lyndon B. Johnson)以来第一位不寻求连任的在任总统。
在离开竞选活动后，拜登现在的重点转移到如何在总统任期的最后几个月“完成工作”，巩固他几十年政治生涯的遗产。
“总统像激光束一样专注于确保未来六个月对美国人民至关重要，”白宫公众参与办公室主任斯蒂芬·本杰明周一告诉记者。“他正在征求本届政府中最优秀、最聪明的人的想法和想法，同时也在征求全国各地的想法和想法，询问人们，‘还有哪些事情没有完成，我们还需要努力确保哪些事情?’"
本杰明说，他希望总统继续致力于最高法院的问责制，巩固经济，降低美国家庭的价格等等。
关于他的18年任期限制提案，拜登说，这将有助于确保法院以某种规律变化，并将消除“攻击确认过程的极端法院”。
“这将使提名最高法院法官的时间更容易预测，减少随意性。并减少任何一任总统对后代施加不当影响的可能性。
国会中的共和党人表示，他们准备挑战拜登的议程。
众议院议长·迈克·约翰逊抨击拜登在本任期内经过几次法庭争议后提出的最高法院改革提案是“危险的”，并表示它们“在到达众议院时就已经死亡”
参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔在发言中也认为，政府正在推动改革，因为他们在政治上不同意法院最近的决定。
“为什么拜登·哈里斯政府如此愿意将我们政府系统的皇冠上的明珠——独立的司法系统——付之一炬?因为它挡了他们的路，”麦康奈尔说。
最后，拜登谈到了支持他的法院改革的副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯，他现在已经从拜登手中接过火炬，成为民主党总统候选人提名的领先者。
“我已经表明了我对卡玛拉的看法，”拜登说。“在她的职业生涯中，她一直是人权的捍卫者。她将继续成为一位鼓舞人心的领袖，展现美国的理想。”
Biden rips 'extreme opinions' as he pushes for Supreme Court reform in speech at LBJ Presidential Library
President Joe Biden on Monday visited the LBJ Presidential Library to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and gave remarks on his new proposals to reform the U.S. Supreme Court.
The remarks were Biden's first major speech since his Oval Office address last week on his decision to exit the 2024 race.
In Austin, Texas, he discussed his administration's work to protect civil rights and his calls for reforms to the nation's highest court, including term limits and an enforceable code of conduct for justices as well as a constitutional amendment against presidential immunity, all of which face long-shot odds of congressional approval with a Republican-controlled House and closely divided Senate.
"In recent years, extreme opinions that the Supreme Court has handed down have undermined long established civil rights principles and protections," Biden said.
"I have respect for institutions and the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution, but what's happening now is not consistent with that doctrine of separation of powers. Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court's decisions," he continued, checking off recent decisions that he said led him to the reform proposals, saying those decisions have "undermined long established civil rights principles and protections."
"And most recently and most shockingly, the Supreme Court established in Trump vs. the United States a dangerous precedent," Biden said. "They ruled, as you know, that the president of the United States has immunity for potential crimes he may have committed while in office, immunity. This nation is founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each of us is equal before the law. No one is above the law!"
The setting for Monday's remarks was also significant, as Biden is the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson to not seek reelection.
In stepping away from the campaign trail, Biden's focus is now shifted to how to "finish the job" in the final few months of his presidency and cement the legacy of his decades-long political career.
"The president is focused like a laser beam on making sure that the next six months matter to the American people," Stephen Benjamin, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, told reporters on Monday. "He is soliciting the ideas and thoughts of the best and brightest people in this administration, but also from across the country, asking people, 'What is left undone, what else do we need to work to secure?'"
Benjamin said he expects the president to continue to work on accountability for the Supreme Court, fortifying the economy, lowering prices for American families and more.
On his 18-year term limit proposal, Biden said this will help ensure that the court changes with some regularity and would remove "an extreme court attacking the confirmation process."
"That would make timing for the court's nomination more predictable and less arbitrary. And reduce the chance that any single presidency imposes undue influence on generations to come," he said.
Republicans in Congress signaled they are ready to challenge Biden's agenda.
House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed the proposed Supreme Court reforms, which Biden is floating after several court controversies this term, as "dangerous" and said they are "dead on arrival in the House."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also argued in floor remarks that the administration is pushing for reform because they don't agree politically with the court's recent decisions.
"Why is the Biden Harris administration so willing to put the crown jewel of our system of government, the independent judiciary, to the torch? Because it stands in their way," McConnell said.
In closing, Biden spoke about Vice President Kamala Harris who supports his court reforms and who has now taken the torch from Biden as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
"I've made clear how I feel about Kamala," Biden said. "She has been a champion of rights throughout her career. She will continue to be an inspiring leader and project the very ideal of America."
