Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said Sunday that the Supreme Court should be restructured with 18-year term limits and binding ethics standards, arguing the current court is ‘compromised’ by justices accepting unlimited gifts from billionaires with business before the bench.
During an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Booker told host Kristen Welker that he and several Democratic colleagues have coalesced around a plan that polls above 70 percent among Americans. Under the proposal, each president would receive two Supreme Court appointments per term, creating what Booker described as a more balanced court without resorting to a constitutional amendment or a straightforward expansion of the bench.
‘You create term limits for the Supreme Court, 18 year terms,’ Booker said. ‘Every president we elect, we now know gets two appointments to it. And that is vital. It will create a balanced court.’
A Contrast With Harris’s Court-Packing Proposal
Booker’s remarks came after Welker noted that former Vice President Kamala Harris has advocated adding four justices to the Supreme Court, a proposal that has divided Democrats. Booker positioned his approach as more pragmatic, telling Welker, ‘I want pragmatic solutions.’
‘It’s something we can do without a constitutional amendment or a simple court packing plan,’ Booker said, distinguishing his proposal from Harris’s more aggressive expansion plan. The New Jersey senator added that his proposal has been developed with ‘really great colleagues’ and that it enjoys broad public support, though he did not name the colleagues or specify the polling data behind his 70 percent figure.
Ethics Concerns Take Center Stage
Booker also pressed the case for stricter ethics rules, framing the issue as perhaps the more urgent of his two proposals. ‘Not only is it term limits for board members, right now we have a situation with the highest court in the land has the lowest ethics laws,’ he said. ‘We have a compromised court because they take unlimited gifts from billionaires who have interest in matters before them.’
He continued: ‘We need to put the highest ethic laws there and term limits.’
The push for ethics reform at the Supreme Court has gained traction among Democrats following a series of news reports in recent years documenting undisclosed travel, real estate transactions, and other financial arrangements between justices and wealthy benefactors. Senate Democrats have introduced ethics legislation, though it has stalled in a closely divided chamber.
Booker’s remarks reflect a continued emphasis on court structure and ethics as campaign themes heading into the fall midterm season, a period when Democrats are seeking to frame the judiciary as a motivating issue for their base. His comments also signal that the party remains split between those favoring fundamental restructuring — such as term limits and appointment schedules — and those, like Harris, who have embraced expanding the court’s membership outright.
The senator did not elaborate on how an 18-year term limit would be implemented without a constitutional amendment, a point that legal scholars across the ideological spectrum have debated for years. The Constitution currently provides that justices ‘shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,’ which many constitutional experts interpret as lifetime tenure. Proponents of term limits have argued that a statutory framework could rotate justices to lower courts after their 18-year active terms, though that approach has its own legal skeptics.
Booker’s comments Sunday add him to a growing list of Senate Democrats willing to talk openly about structural changes at the high court. The senator did not indicate a timeline for bringing legislation to the floor or whether he had discussed the matter with Senate leadership.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/20/cory-booker-scotus-needs-term-limits-we-have-a-compromised-court/