A proposed amendment to the United States Constitution has fallen short, after Republicans attempted to cap the number of seats on the nation’s Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives failed to advance a joint resolution championed by Republicans that would have permanently limited the court to its current number of justices: nine. The amendment’s final vote, which was mostly along party lines, was 212 in favour and 206 opposed.
A simple majority is needed to pass most legislation in the House, but constitutional amendments require two-thirds support. Representative Don Davis of North Carolina was the only Democrat to vote in support of the amendment, while independent Representative Kevin Kiley of California, who caucuses with Republicans, voted against it. The vote comes a day after the House voted 220 to 192 in favour of adopting a resolution condemning socialism.
Eight Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the measure. US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday took to social media to chide Democrats who voted against the two bills. The manoeuvres come less than two months before November’s pivotal midterm elections, which will decide which party controls the chambers of Congress.
Some Democrats have called to add justices to the nation’s highest court to counter its conservative supermajority. The process, known among its opponents as “court packing”, is controversial. But support for the idea gained momentum after US President Donald Trump appointed three justices to the bench in his first term.
That conservative-led court has since handed him a string of legal victories. In April 2021, four Democrats in the US Congress introduced a bill that would have created a Supreme Court with 13 justices. They claimed it “would restore balance to the nation’s highest court after four years of norm-breaking actions by Republicans”.
The US Constitution establishes the Supreme Court but does not limit – or specify – its size, leaving the matter entirely to the nation’s lawmakers. In 1789, the Judiciary Act established six justices: a chief justice and five associates. The court changed in size several times over the next century.
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