(NewsSpace.com) – On Monday, July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are protected when they carry out “official acts” of the office, but not unofficial ones. That decision set off a firestorm of reactions from all sides. Former President Donald Trump lauded it as a win, while others say it compromises democracy. Now, a House Democrat is looking to propose a constitutional amendment that would counteract the high court’s ruling.
Following the ruling, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his thoughts on the matter. He said he plans to “introduce a constitutional amendment to reverse SCOTUS’ harmful decision and ensure that no president is above the law.” He also called out the high court’s perceived failure, which he claims put democracy on the line.
Introducing a constitutional amendment is one of the only ways to counteract the high court’s decision because the SCOTUS serves as the final decision on a law. A new court ruling would be the only way to overturn that, as has been done with the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and the most recent ruling that overturned the Chevron Deference.
The ruling, which was highly anticipated, basically returns the case to the lower courts to determine which acts Trump committed would be protected as they were carried out in an “official capacity” and which weren’t, and therefore, are likely prosecutable. The liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, with Sotomayor writing the opinion. She likened the ruling to elevating the role of president to king. Justice Amy Coney Barrett also agreed with one part of Sotomayor’s dissent: that a president’s actions can be presented as evidence.
Morelle’s action is unlikely to go anywhere as the House currently has a slim Republican majority, though, it’s something that could be presented in the future, as well.
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