Because the universe is engineered for maximum nihilism, the same week that the United States Supreme Court decided to take up a direct assault on Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration’s Supreme Court reform commission held its first meeting. That juxtaposition either amounts to Biden bringing knife to a gun fight or the Handmaid’s caucus throwing gasoline on what was moments before dying embers of judicial reform. Which it turns out to be is mostly in Biden’s hands.

The first meeting was, as expected, mostly an exercise in housekeeping, bringing all the members together for the first time. Still, Court reformers are taking a cautiously optimistic view of the proceedings. “As the Commission’s work begins, a wide majority of Americans already believes that significant changes must occur at the Supreme Court to preserve its legitimacy in an increasingly polarized world,” Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth said. “Americans want a Court that’s independent of the day’s political winds, that follows basic measures of transparency and whose justices serve shorter tenures. The Commission has a unique opportunity to study and advance these and other reforms, and I hope they don’t squander it,” Roth added.

Oh, they’ll squander it.