Did Joe Biden just concede the Presidential election of 2024?
No, of course not. At least, not in so many words. But … Those with ears to hear, let them hear!
Earlier today, news came out that Biden supports major reforms to the Supreme Court, including term limits, an enforceable ethics code, and a Constitutional amendment to undo the Court's ruling earlier this month in Trump vs. United States (2024). You can read the Associated Press reporting here.
Doubtless there is much that could be said about the wisdom (or otherwise) of each of these proposals, but we all know that President Biden has been struggling with the Court for some time. And heaven knows that other people have made these proposals before now, in the form of opinion articles or editorials. So I want to ask a different question: WHY NOW?
Before answering, stop and reflect how very difficult each of these proposals will be.
- The third one explicitly requires a Constitutional amendment.
- But term limits will require amending the Constitution as well, because Article III Section I—after establishing the Supreme Court and "such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish"—explicitly states: "The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, …." (In other words, for life.)
- The ethics code is the easiest of the three, but it will still require a majority vote in both houses of Congress. And we should expect a lot of partisan pushback.
In other words, any single one of these proposals—to say nothing of all three together—stands only the slimmest chance of passing, and would require burning an enormous supply of political capital to make any headway.
Traditionally, Joe Biden has been very cautious about burning that kind of capital. If he had any plans to govern for another four years, he would want to keep his powder dry.
So the most logical answer to the question WHY NOW? is that Biden realizes there is no possible way he can win in November. He badly botched the debate with Donald Trump; he has botched interviews and public appearances since then; and most recently, an assassination attempt against Trump has made the latter look like a hero. There is no way Biden can compete with that.
So I think he has decided, To hell with it. You only live once. Time for the Hail-Mary play. Time to swing for the fences.
Of course these proposals will probably fail. Remember what I said about how very, very difficult they all are. But Joe Biden has only six more months on the national stage—at a maximum, provided his health holds out, God willing. Failure doesn't matter any more. Time to go down in a blaze of glory.
