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🇺🇸 United States /Elections & Politics

House Rejects GOP Constitutional Amendment to Limit Supreme Court to Nine Justices

From CBS News · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • The House voted 212-206 against a Republican-proposed constitutional amendment that would permanently set the Supreme Court at nine justices.
  • Rep. Andy Biggs said a fixed court would prevent future election winners from expanding it, while Democrats argued the amendment would strip Congress of constitutional authority.
  • Amending the Constitution requires approval by two-thirds of both chambers and ratification by three-fourths of the states; the court has had nine seats since 1869.

A Republican effort to lock the size of the U.S. Supreme Court at nine justices failed in the House on Wednesday, with the 212-206 vote falling far short of the two-thirds majority needed for a constitutional amendment.

It fixes the number of justices at nine permanently, not because nine is a magic number, but because a fixed court cannot be expanded by whoever happens to win the next election.

— Andy BiggsThe Arizona Republican explained why he proposed permanently setting the court's membership at nine justices.

The proposal came from Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona. It would have required that the court consist of one chief justice and eight associate justices. Biggs argued during the debate that the goal was to stop a future administration from expanding the court after winning an election. “It fixes the number of justices at nine permanently, not because nine is a magic number, but because a fixed court cannot be expanded by whoever happens to win the next election,” he said.

The vote came as Republicans continued targeting positions associated with the Democratic Socialists of America. The House adopted a resolution condemning socialism “in all its forms” on Tuesday. The DSA platform calls for replacing the Supreme Court with a judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress. Some Democrats, including Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, have supported expanding the court. Clyburn said Sunday that he favored increasing the number of justices to 13.

Nine justices has worked well.

— Mike JohnsonThe House speaker argued in favor of keeping the Supreme Court at nine members.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the nine-justice limit “critically important” and said that expanding the court would turn it into a political contest. Democratic leaders urged members to reject the amendment, saying it would permanently surrender a power that Article I gives Congress. Since 1789, Congress has changed the court's total number of justices seven times. Any constitutional amendment would also require approval by the Senate and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

If you go down the road of packing the Supreme Court it turns into a political palooza, and it would not serve the country.

— Mike JohnsonJohnson opposed expanding the court, describing it as a move that would politicize the institution.
About this summary

Originally published by CBS News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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