By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden said it would be a mistake to expand the membership of the U.S. Supreme Court after it struck down race-conscious admission considerations on Thursday but thinks the institution is out of touch with basic American values.
The president’s comments came hours after the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, in a sharp setback to affirmative action policies often used to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups on campuses.
Biden told MSNBC in New York that the court “may do too much harm but I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we are going to politicize it maybe forever, in a way that is not healthy.”
Biden also said the court’s value system is different and it’s not as embracing.
The affirmative action ruling is the latest in a string of setbacks on issues that were once considered settled, such as abortion rights, delivered by the conservative-leaning court.
Liberal Democratic lawmakers have proposed expanding the number of Supreme Court justices, possibly ending its conservative majority, but the plan has not been embraced by the White House and other Democrats.
Earlier on Thursday at the White House, Biden said he “strongly” disagrees with the court’s decision and urged colleges to take into account challenges that applicants face, including racial discrimination, during the admissions process.
He directed the U.S. Department of Education to analyze what practices will help build more inclusive and diverse student bodies and what practices impede that goal. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the agency will provide resources to colleges and universities addressing lawful admissions in the next 45 days.
The president also proposed that applicants first have to qualify under a college’s academic standards, but then admissions officials would take into account “adversity” criteria, such as financial means, living situations and whether or not the applicant faced racial discrimination.
“The truth is – we all know it – discrimination still exists in America,” Biden said.
Asked at the White House whether the Supreme Court was a rogue court, Biden paused, then responded, “this is not a normal court.” Explaining his comment, Biden later said this Supreme Court has done more to “unravel basic rights and basic decisions than any court in recent history.”
The White House has been meeting with civil rights organizations, universities, and legal organizations to come up with a contingency plan if the court struck down affirmative action, Jean-Pierre said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell)
