The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 earlier this month that former presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts. The majority was clear, however, that that is not the case for unofficial acts, and “not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution.”
That point gave Senate Democrats an idea apparently - they may have one more shot at going after the 45th president.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he and his colleagues are working on legislation that would strip Trump of that immunity.
“We Democrats will not let the Supreme Court’s decision stand unaddressed. The Constitution makes plain that Congress has the authority to check the judiciary through appropriate legislation. I will work with my colleagues on legislation classifying Trump’s election subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity,” the New York Democrat said on the Senate floor.
“We’re doing this because we believe that in America no president should be free to overturn an election against the will of the people, no matter what the conservative justices may believe,” he continued. “As we work on this important matter, we’ll also keep working on other proposals to reassert Congress’s Article I authority to rein in the abuse of our federal judiciary. The American people are tired, just tired, of justices who think they are beyond accountability."
Democrats are pushing legislation to reverse the presidential immunity decision. https://t.co/7nFWtFUqon The move is more politically than legally compelling. The decision is based on constitutional law and simply declaring whole areas "unofficial" will not negate the ruling.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 8, 2024
That is, um, not how that works.
— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 8, 2024
They were official acts at the time they occurred or they weren't. They don't retroactively become criminal. https://t.co/dxR5ANzj4l
🚨There’s nothing Democrats won’t do to subvert SCOTUS.
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) July 8, 2024
“I will work with my colleagues on legislation classifying Trump’s election subversion acts as unofficial acts not subject to immunity,” Schumer said Monday, pic.twitter.com/nbJI4Trirl