WASHINGTON (AP) — A top House Democrat is preparing a constitutional amendment in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark immunity ruling, seeking to reverse the decision “and ensure that no president is above the law.”
Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, sent a letter to his colleagues informing them of his intention to introduce the resolution, which would kick off a traditionally cumbersome amendment process.
“This amendment will do what SCOTUS failed to do: prioritize our democracy,” Morelle said in a statement to the AP.
Regarding Donald Trump, Morelle said the former president “must be held accountable for his decisions. I call on my colleagues to support my amendment and stand with me on the front lines to protect our democracy.”
It is the most significant legislative response yet to this week’s decision by the court’s conservative majority, which stunned Washington and drew a sharp rebuff from the court’s liberal justices who have warned of the dangers to democracy, particularly as Trump seeks a return to the White House. Yet the effort faces virtually no chance of success in this Congress.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said presidents have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for actions taken within their official duties — a decision that calls into question the Justice Department’s cases against Trump, including his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump and his allies celebrated the ruling by the court, which includes three judges appointed by the former president, and his legal team immediately moved to delay sentencing for his felony conviction in an unrelated hush-money case in New York state court that had been scheduled for next week. The judge agreed to delay sentencing until the fall.
The outcome all but ensures that the federal lawsuits against Trump will not be resolved before the November election, when he will likely face President Joe Biden again.
While the process of amending the Constitution will likely take years and may never come to fruition, proponents believe it is the surest way, even short of new law, to establish the standard that presidents can face consequences for their actions.
“This amendment will ensure that no official of the United States — including the President — can avoid the accountability that another American should face for violating our laws,” Morelle wrote in a letter to colleagues this week.
He quoted Justice Sonya Sotomayor, who led the dissent, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who joined the dissent, before using his own words: “Presidents are citizens, not tyrants.”
Another Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said Monday she plans to file impeachment proceedings against the justices over the ruling, which she said represents “an attack on American democracy.”
“It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian overthrow,” Ocasio-Cortez said on social media. “I plan to file articles of impeachment upon our return.”
Congress can begin the process of amending the Constitution and then send it to the states for ratification. Such a resolution would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, which is highly unlikely in this era of divided government and ratification by three-quarters of the states.
To date, 27 amendments have been introduced to the United States Constitution.
