John: The Supreme Court in recent years has suffered not only from low public opinion but a wave of ethical issues that have shattered trust in the body. The right-wing justices on the Supreme Court are completely and totally out of control. John: The most recent Gallup poll, taken in July 2024, showed that the Court had a 52% disapproval rating, while 43% of responders approved. This was a stark contrast with a poll taken in July 2020, which showed that the Court at the time had a 58% approval rating with 38% disapproving. Some have called for the removal or resignation of justices from the court, and some also want to expand the size of the court. But how would these things work? I'm John Dorman, and I'm a senior politics reporter at Business Insider. The Supreme Court was established in the US Constitution. It doesn't specify how many justices can serve,

and that number can be changed by Congress. But the Judiciary Act of 1869 set the number of justices at nine, a chief justice, and eight associate justices. Since then, the nomination process has become more polarized in recent years. Supreme Court nominees like Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and John Roberts were easily confirmed with bipartisan support. The ayes are 78, the nays are 22. The nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. of Maryland to be chief justice of the United States is confirmed. John: But the votes for nominees have now become an ideological litmus test. This division is really a reflection of the partisanship within Congress, which has reached a fever pitch. Lots of senators have also run for president, or are thinking of running, and the Supreme Court has become the perfect institution to exert ideological influence. The Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

also hardened many feelings about the institution. But it's not just legal decisions that are being questioned by the public in recent years. It's also the personal ethics of justices. The most famous example is Clarence Thomas, who faced heavy criticism after ProPublica in April 2023 published a bombshell report detailing how for years he had taken luxury vacations funded by the billionaire mega-donor Harlan Crow and had not disclosed the trips. Thomas said at the time that he was advised that it wasn't necessary to report this sort of personal hospitality. But he said he'd adhere to the new guidelines set forth by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Before that, Thomas came under intense scrutiny as his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, was involved in the push to overturn Biden's 2020 victory. She was even interviewed by the Jan. 6 committee. Samuel Alito has also been in the spotlight.

The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag was observed flying outside of Alito's home after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. The flag's direction is widely seen as a message of support for Trump's push to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Alito responded by saying that his wife was responsible for the flag's placement, and he rejected the notion that he'd recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases. Given these developments, the court's standing has fallen in the eyes of many Americans. Despite that, are these justices untouchable, or can they be removed from the court? To impeach a Supreme Court justice, a member of the House would introduce articles of impeachment. But a two-thirds majority would be needed to convict and remove a justice, a virtually unrealistic proposition in today's closely divided Congress. To be clear, no Supreme Court justice has ever been successfully removed. Democrats in Congress are trying to institute

some form of ethics for the Supreme Court. President Biden has even laid out a proposal that would create 18-year term limits for justices, institute a binding code of conduct for justices, and he wants lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment that would limit presidential immunity. And he's also heavily criticized the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the ruling that essentially ended affirmative action in college admissions. Harris has backed Biden's reforms, saying there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the Supreme Court. And there's another proposal from Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden. He introduced a bill recently in the Senate that would increase the number of justices on the court from nine to 15 over 12 years. It would direct the IRS to audit justices every year. It would also mandate that Supreme Court nominees release three years of tax returns. And it would allow a two-thirds vote among justices for justices to recuse themselves from a case.

But the proposals have little chance of passing, even in the current Democratic-controlled Senate. Republicans who see the conservative majority on the court as the fruit of their decades of labor and prioritizing the Supreme Court see Democratic attempts at reforms as a power grab. Mitch McConnell, the architect of the GOP road map to transform the court, blocked the Merrick Garland pick for most of 2016, which paved the way for Trump to nominate Neil Gorsuch. But Democrats have not forgotten about it, and they're still upset over the move. But at the time, they were powerless to stop it.

Is It Time To Change The Supreme Court And Can It Happen? | Business Insider Explains

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