Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave a Sunday interview where she strongly advocated for term limits and an expansion of the Supreme Court.
On MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki”, Pelosi spoke about the Supreme Court at length around the one year anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned and the issue of abortion regulation being handed back to the states.
“Here we have a body … chosen for life. Never have to run for office. Nominated, confirmed for life, with no accountability for their ethics behavior,” Pelosi said.
She said there should “certainly be term limits” for the justices before moving on to the possibility of expanding the court, which she was somewhat less forceful toward.
“It’s been over 150 years since we’ve had an expansion of the court. It was in the time of Lincoln that it went up to nine, so the subject of whether that should happen is a discussion — it’s not, say, a rallying cry, but it’s a discussion,” Pelosi said.
Implementing term limits for Supreme Court justices would require a constitutional amendment, but Congress could pass legislation requiring justices to retire as a workaround.
Court Faces Ethical Controversies
She also referred to recent controversies involving justices surrounding potential ethical violations. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have come under scrutiny for receiving gifts and benefits from friends that are perceived by some as unethical as they considering national issues.
“If nothing else, there should be some ethical rules that would be followed,” Pelosi said of the Court’s current self-governance on ethics, as there are no formal rules or guidelines to be followed.
Pelosi said it’s “shameful” that the two justices “have been so cavalier about their violations of what would be expected of a justice of the Supreme Court.”
The Supreme Court’s approval rating has dropped to a record low recently, with a Quinnipiac University poll showing just 30% of registered voters approve.
Pelosi had remarks on that as well, saying that “30 percent seems high” in her opinion.
