WHITE HOUSE COMMISSION STUDIES.

SCOTUS ACTS.

President Biden’s White House launched a Commission to probe arguments for and against reforming the Supreme Court. But after 8 months of meetings and deliberation, the Commission has failed to advocate for the necessary reforms to safeguard our rights and our democracy.

This timeline chronicles how the Commission spent months writing a research paper while the conservative Supreme Court justices spent their time actively dismantling our democracy.

  • Commission is announced

    See our statement

    April 9, 2021

  • First Meeting of the Commission

    The first meeting of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States lasted less than 30 minutes, despite the conservative justices signaling earlier this week that they are prepared to dismantle Roe v. Wade.
    Our statement

    May 19, 2021

  • SCOTUS Radically Curtails Workers’ Right to Organize

    In a partisan 6-3 decision, the Court held that a CA law allowing union organizers limited access to private property in order to organize agricultural workers was an unconstitutional “taking” from property owners, opening the door for business owners to litigate every regulation they oppose including workplace safety and nondiscrimination rules.
    Our statement

    June 23, 2021

  • Second Meeting of the Commission

    Our statement

    June 30, 2021

  • Further guts Voting Rights Act

    In a partisan 6-3 decision, every conservative on the Court joined in Samuel Alito’s majority opinion dismantling what remained of the Voting Rights Act.
    Our statement

    July 1, 2021

  • Makes it easier to buy elections

    On the same day that the right-wing SCOTUS majority gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act, it also sided with a Koch-funded group to weaken donor disclosure laws.
    Our statement

    July 1, 2021

  • Third Commission Meeting

    Our statement

    July 20, 2021

  • Imposes Trump's "Remain In Mexico" Policy

    Following an injunction from a Trump judge ordering the Biden Administration to reimplement the policy several months after it had already been phased out, conservatives on the Court ignored decades of foreign policy precedent to force the Biden Administration to comply and resurrect it.
    Our statement

    August 24, 2021

  • Blocks Covid-19 Eviction Moratorium

    In a 6-3 vote, the far-right SCOTUS majority rejected the Biden Administration’s attempt to extend the nationwide eviction moratorium, potentially forcing millions out of their homes.
    Our statement

    August 26, 2021

  • Allows Texas to Ban Abortion

    Conservatives on the Court allowed Texas to enact a 6-week abortion ban, effectively banning all abortions in the state and nullifying Roe v. Wade for millions of Texans.
    Our statement

    September 1, 2021

  • Fourth Commission Meeting

    Following the release of a draft report disparaging Court expansion as a necessary reform, several commissioners voiced their concerns about signing onto a report that does not meet this moment.
    Our statement

    October 15, 2021

  • Hears arguments on Texas Abortion Ban

    44 days after the ban went into effect, the Court heard arguments on the legitimacy of the Texas ban -- crucially without providing relief to the millions of Texans unable to access their right to an abortion.
    Our statement

    November 1, 2021

  • Hears arguments to dismantle state gun control laws

    The Court heard arguments in the NRA-backed case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, where a majority of the Court was sympathetic to arguments to strike down a 100+ year old NY gun law and overturn state level gun-control laws nationwide.
    Our statement

    November 3, 2021

  • Fifth Commission Meeting

    The meeting took place 188 days after the Commission was formed. By comparison, the Constitutional Convention in 1787 took only 115 days to draft America’s entire constitution.
    Our statement

    November 3, 2021

  • Hears Direct Challenge to Roe v. Wade

    The Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that presents conservatives with the chance to end abortion rights as we know them, and a majority of the Court appears ready to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, gutting, if not outright overturning Roe.
    Our statement

    December 1, 2021

  • Final Commission Meeting

    The Commission will have its final meeting after 8 months of deliberation before releasing a final report that will make no specific recommendations while the stolen Supreme Court has spent that time eroding our rights and dismantling our democracy.

    December 7, 2021