Top Senate Democrat bids to overturn Supreme Court decisions as GOP slams overhaul: ‘Smacks of arrogance’

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is pushing to give Congress the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions as Republicans pledge to block reforms to the highest court. Wyden said the bill he plans to introduce, Restoring Congressional Authority Act, is necessary to ensure lawmakers can keep “radical right-wing judges” from wielding “unreasonable interference.”

On Thursday, the Senate Democrat cited concerns with “Donald Trump’s radical right-wing Supreme Court” as he announced legislation empowering Congress to limit the high court’s ability to interpret laws. 

“At every turn, MAGA judges are hellbent on dragging our country backward,” Wyden said in a press release announcing the Restoring Congressional Authority Act. “With the help of Republicans in Congress, Donald Trump spent his time in office packing our nation’s highest courts with right-wing extremists willing to legislate from the bench. From the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies to healthcare, the climate crisis, and everything in between, these MAGA judges are doing the bidding of special interests who want to rip away our fundamental freedoms. Our country is founded on checks and balances, and it’s time to restore that balance by putting a much-needed check on the federal judiciary.”

Wyden’s move comes as Republicans have vowed to stop Democratic attempts to enact major reforms to the Supreme Court. 

Just days ago, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) told Fox News that Democrats’ plans to impose term limits on justices, criticized by Republicans as court-packing, “smacks of arrogance.” 

“You don’t like a decision, so you’re going to change the court. That’s not how it works,” the GOP leader said. “To me, this is not just court-packing. This is a way to divert attention away from the real issues of this campaign, which are the policies of the Biden-Harris campaign and their administration.” 

However, Wyden’s decision to introduce legislation weakening the court’s power indicates some Democrats are doubling down against GOP criticism. 

Wyden, who serves as Senate Finance Committee chairman, specifically addressed Democratic concern over the Supreme Court’s recent overhaul of the Chevron doctrine. In June, the landmark Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo case won the nation’s attention as Republican-appointed justices issued a blow to the federal government’s regulatory power. 

The Oregon Democrat argued that the Chevron ruling undermined “congressional authority and the executive branch’s power to use its expertise to implement and enforce laws passed by Congress.”

Prior to the June decision, federal agencies enjoyed wide freedom under the Chevron doctrine to decide how laws should be carried out. However, the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision diminished the latitude agencies have to impose regulations and interpret sometimes vague statutes passed by Congress.

In the wake of the decision, Biden has espoused a renewed commitment to launching historic Supreme Court reforms. On Monday, the Democratic president published an opinion piece in the Washington Post outlining plans to reverse the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, impose 18-year terms on justices, and a binding Supreme Court ethics code. 

While House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Biden’s proposals are “dead on arrival,” his opposition hasn’t stopped Democrats. Wyden’s bill appears to be aligning himself with the president’s goal of enacting major changes to the nation’s highest court and signaling to his party that the Left is ready to tackle the Supreme Court. 

The Washington Examiner reached out to Wyden’s office for comment.