Washington, DC – Underscoring the simple but profound fact that America is a democracy, not a monarchy and that no one – not even the president or vice president – is above the law, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and over 30 colleagues in introducing the No Kings Act. This legislation would make it clear that presidents do not have immunity for criminal actions.
The Senators say the law is needed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s partisan ruling that conferred broad immunity on former President Donald Trump.
Under the Supreme Court’s extreme and misguided ruling, it would be nearly impossible to investigate a president for corruption while in office; allow future presidents to hijack Federal law enforcement to serve their own personal ends; and take a dangerous step toward allowing the presidency to operate without Constitutional checks and balances. In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson notes the extreme new immunity shield the court is offering the president: “even a hypothetical President who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup has a fair shot at getting immunity under the [decision] . . . the majority holds that the President, unlike anyone else in our country, is comparatively free to engage in criminal acts in furtherance of his official duties.”
The No Kings Act would reaffirm that the President is not immune to legal accountability and remove the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to hear appeals related to presidential immunity from criminal law.
“In a dangerous and devastating ruling, the MAGA Supreme Court has once again subverted the will of the American people, and the very idea of democracy itself,” said Leader Schumer. “The Founders were explicit – no man in America shall be a king. Yet, in their disastrous decision, the Supreme Court threw out centuries of precedent and anointed Trump and subsequent presidents as kings above the law. Given the dangerous and consequential implications of the Court’s ruling, legislation would be the fastest and most efficient method to correcting the grave precedent the Trump ruling presented. With this glaring and partisan overreach, Congress has an obligation – and a constitutional authority – to act as a check and balance to the judicial branch.”
“Whether you agree or disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling, everyone should recognize its troubling implications. In fact, if this radical ruling were issued prior to 1974, Nixon’s coverup would have remained a coverup. The “smoking gun” tape that precipitated Nixon’s resignation would have been considered “an official act” and he’d have been shielded from accountability for his actions. The No Kings Act offers a commonsense solution that restores basic American values and clarifies that in America, the law is king, and not even the President is above the law,” said Senator Reed.
“This captured Supreme Court invented out of thin air the idea that former presidents are absolutely immune from being held accountable for using their office to break the law, even to commit treason,” said Senator Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate’s most outspoken champion for fixing the Supreme Court. “Congress has the power to undo the damage of this decision and to clean up the rest of the mess at the Roberts Court.”
The No Kings Act would:
- Reaffirm that Presidents and Vice Presidents do not have immunity for actions that violate U.S. criminal law. No President or Vice President (former or sitting) would be entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for actions that violate the criminal laws of the United States. The bill would clarify that Congress, not the Supreme Court, determines to whom federal criminal laws may be applied.
- Remove the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction for all actions challenging the constitutionality of this legislation. The bill would allow Presidents and Vice Presidents to challenge the constitutionality of the No Kings Act in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Any appeal would be handled by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Using the Exceptions Clause of Article III of the Constitution, Congress would preclude the Supreme Court from hearing any appeals to these challenges. It would further remove the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction to interfere with any criminal proceedings involving Presidents or Vice Presidents on the basis that an alleged criminal act was an official action.
- Establish additional jurisdictional and procedural guardrails. The bill would allow the United States to bring criminal actions against a President or Vice President in any applicable district court or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. It would also create a presumption of constitutionality for the No Kings Act unless a party establishes its unconstitutionality with clear and convincing evidence. Lastly, the bill would create statutes of limitations of 180 days for facial constitutional challenges and 90 days for as-applied constitutional challenges.
Across American history, Congress has exercised its authority to legislate on constitutional matters. From civil rights to religion to regulating elections, Congress has often enacted federal statutes directly contravening constitutional decisions from the Supreme Court when lawmakers believed the Court misapplied the Constitution.
In addition to Schumer, Reed, and Whitehouse, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators: Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Peter Welch (D-VT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Angus King (I-ME), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
