President Biden on Wednesday said there should be an amendment to the Constitution that makes clear presidents are not immune from crimes committed in office, using his farewell address in part to swipe at a recent Supreme Court ruling.
“We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president, no president, is immune from crimes he or she commits while in office. The president’s power is not unlimited. It’s not absolute. And it shouldn’t be,” Biden said in prime-time remarks from the Oval Office.
The Supreme Court over the summer issued an opinion in which a 6-3 conservative majority ruled that presidents have absolute immunity for actions that fall within the core responsibilities of their office and are presumptively immune in all other official acts.
The ruling came after President-elect Trump sought to argue he was immune from prosecution on charges related to his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
Biden had previously been critical of the decision, warning it left “virtually no limits on what a president can do.”
The president more broadly used his farewell speech to warn against the concentration of power and wealth, expressing concern that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy.”
