Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require that the Supreme Court of the United States be composed of nine justices.

Key Points

• This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would permanently fix the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices. Currently, the Constitution does not specify a number, and Congress has changed the court's size multiple times throughout history using ordinary legislation.
• The amendment is designed to prevent any future Congress from expanding or shrinking the Supreme Court for political advantage, a practice commonly known as court packing. By enshrining the number in the Constitution, changing it would require another amendment rather than a simple law.
• To take effect, the amendment must clear an extremely high bar: two-thirds approval in both the House and Senate, followed by ratification from 38 state legislatures within seven years. This is one of the hardest paths in American government, and most proposed amendments never make it through.
• The resolution has significant Republican co-sponsorship with over 70 House members signing on, but it faces a very difficult road since constitutional amendments require broad bipartisan support that is rare in today's political environment.

Impact Analysis

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Votes

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