WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCAX) – A Vermont representative to Washington is raising the alarm about a Supreme Court ruling from this summer, and introducing a plan to roll back the ruling.
In a judiciary committee hearing, Senator Peter Welch denounced the Supreme Court ruling from July that said former presidents have immunity from prosecution for official acts.
That decision was made around the January 6 case against former president Donald Trump.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Welch said the ruling endangers the checks and balances outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
“At the heart of this seems to be a core dispute about whether presidential power needs immunity in order to be effective, powerful, and unconstrained, or whether presidential power within the Constitution—adhering to the doctrine of separation of powers, adhering to the doctrine that no person is above the law—needs constraints,” said Sen. Welch.
Welch is a cosponsor of the No Kings Act – a move that would roll back the Supreme Court ruling and state that the president is not immune from legal accountability.
It would also prevent a repeat ruling by removing the highest court’s jurisdiction to hear presidential immunity appeals from criminal law.