President Joe Biden visited Texas on Monday, delivering one of his first major speeches since announcing his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election.
Biden spoke at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. In his keynote address, he recapped the work his administration has done in the name of civil rights, such as his move to extend Title IX protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
During his speech, Biden also touted the series of proposed reforms he revealed recently that aim to limit the powers of the Supreme Court and the presidency. He outlined the three sweeping reforms that he said would “restore trust and accountability to the Court and our democracy.”
Biden’s first reform was for a new Constitutional Amendment called “no one is above the law amendment.”
“No immunity for crimes the former President [Trump] committed while in office. I share our founders’ belief: a president must answer to the law. A president is accountable to exercise the great powers of the presidency. We’re a nation of laws, not kings and dictators.”
The second proposed reform was to have term limits for the nine members of the Supreme Court.
“The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats in their high court.”
Biden suggested an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices, saying that it would prevent presidents from “influencing generations to come.”
His third reform was to include an enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court justices.
“The Supreme Court’s current ethics code is weak, and even more frightening, voluntary.”
Additionally, Biden used his address to call Project 2025 an attack on the country.
“There’s an extreme movement and agenda called Project 2025. They’re planning another onslaught of attacking Civil Rights in America,” said Biden. “For example, Project 2025 calls aggressively attacking diversity, equity and inclusion across all aspects of American life. This extreme MAGA movement even proposes to end birthright citizenship.”
The president originally planned to take a visit to the state’s capital on July 15; however, the visit was postponed following the attempted assassination of Trump.