Biden denounces court's affirmative-action ruling
“Take a look at how (the Supreme Court) ruled on a number of issues that had been precedent for 50, 60 years sometimes. And that's what I meant by not normal.” — President Joe Biden
WASHINGTON >> President Joe Biden on Thursday declared that the Supreme Court “is not a normal court,” delivering an extraordinarily critical assessment of another branch of government shortly after the court's conservative majority ended nearly a halfcentury of affirmative action in college admissions.
In brief remarks at the White House after the 6-3 ruling, with the court's three liberal justices offering blistering dissents, Biden assailed the decision and said he continued to believe in the need for diversity.
“Because the truth is, we all know it: Discrimination still exists in America,” Biden told reporters in the Roosevelt Room. “Discrimination still exists in America. Discrimination still exists in America. Today's decision does not change that. It's a simple fact.”
As he departed for a daylong trip to New York City, a reporter asked whether the decision should make people question the court's legitimacy and then asked, “Is this a rogue court?”
Biden stopped midstride and appeared to think for a moment before saying, “This is not a normal court.”
Presidents often disagree with decisions by the Supreme Court, sometimes vigorously. In 2010, President Barack Obama chastised the justices for their decision to remove corporate campaign limits — as they sat before him during his first State of the Union address.
But rarely do presidents hint that they question the motivations or the basic quality of the justices themselves. A few hours after Biden's comment about the court not being “normal,” he was asked to explain by Nicolle Wallace during an interview on MSNBC's program “Deadline White House.”
Biden said he had been referring to the fact that the justices on the current court have been more willing than usual to overturn the precedents set by previous justices.
“It's done more to unravel basic rights and basic decisions than any court in recent history,” Biden said. “Take a look at how it's ruled on a number of issues that had been precedent for 50, 60 years sometimes. And that's what I meant by not normal.”
During the interview, Biden rejected the idea of expanding the Supreme Court in an effort to make it more liberal — an option some Democrats have urged him to pursue — as a response to the court's recent rulings.
“If we start the process of trying to expand the court, we're going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy, that you can't get back,” Biden told Wallace.
But he did not back away from his earlier criticism of the decision. He declined to say that the court is “antidemocratic,” but he said “its value system is different and its respect for institutions is different.”
White House officials said Biden's swift and aggressive comments after the court's rejection of affirmative action was the culmination of months of deliberations behind closed doors to prepare for the ruling.
Biden's advisers had been meeting for months with civil rights organizations, universities and legal organizations to map out what to do if the court ended the use of race as a consideration in admissions decisions. Biden's top domestic policy advisers worked with their counterparts at the Education Department and Justice Department to map out a response, they said.
White House officials said the Education Department would host a “national summit” on the issue of diversity in college admissions next month. Biden on Thursday called on leaders in higher education to consider financial means, where a student grew up and personal experiences when they are choosing among a pool of already qualified applicants.