Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said Tuesday they have joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and 31 other senators in introducing legislation that would reaffirm that presidents and vice presidents do not have immunity for actions that violate federal criminal law.
The legislation also clarifies that Congress, not the Supreme Court, determines to whom federal criminal laws may be applied, according to a news release from Wyden, which continues in full below:
On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step to upend the basic principle of our democracy that no person is above the law. In response, the senators’ No Kings Act would reaffirm that the president is not immune to legal accountability and ensure the Supreme Court cannot upend that most basic principle again.
“In a ruling that overturned centuries of precedent, the right-wing Supreme Court carelessly took a sledgehammer to the foundations of our country,” Wyden said. “The United States was founded on the basis of escaping a monarchy. Nobody – not even our presidents – can get away with immunity. There’s nothing more patriotic than equality under the law, and this bill would take the country back to our roots by disallowing any tyrant to be treated like royalty.”
“In a blatant betrayal of government ‘of, by, and for the people,’ the MAGA Supreme Court ripped the word ‘President’ out of our Constitution and inserted the word ‘King,’ Merkley said. “A president is not a king. Nobody is above the law. Congress must exercise its constitutional authority to restore balance between the three branches of our government.”
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