II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3096 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the regularized appointment of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2023 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. SCHATZ) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the 

regularized appointment of justices of the Supreme Court 

of the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supreme Court Bien5 nial Appointments and Term Limits Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUPREME COURT TERMS OF OFFICE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 28, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking by section 1 and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘§ 1. Number of justices; quorum 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Supreme Court of the 

5 United States shall consist of a Chief Justice of the 

6 United States and not fewer than 8 associate justices, any 

7 6 of whom shall constitute a quorum.’’ 

8 ‘‘(b) APPELLATE JURISDICTION CASES.—Only the 9 

9 most recently appointed justices of the Supreme Court of 

10 the United States who are not unavailable due to a tem11 porary absence shall preside over appellate jurisdiction 

12 cases. 

13 ‘‘(c) ORIGINAL JURISDICTION CASES AND OTHER

14 POWERS.—All justices of the Supreme Court of the 

15 United States shall preside over original jurisdiction cases, 

16 and may, subject to any procedures established by the Su17 preme Court, continue to exercise all other official powers, 

18 duties, or responsibilities of a justice of the Supreme 

19 Court required by law.’’; 

20 (2) by striking section 3 and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘§ 3. Vacancy in office of Chief Justice; disability 

23 ‘‘(a) POWERS AND DUTIES OF CHIEF JUSTICE.— 

24 Whenever the Chief Justice is unable to perform the duties 

25 of the office or the office is vacant, the powers and duties 


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1 of Chief Justice shall devolve upon the associate justice 

2 next in precedence who is able to act, until such disability 

3 is removed or another Chief Justice is appointed and duly 

4 qualified. 

5 ‘‘(b) PERMANENT VACANCY IN OFFICE OF CHIEF

6 JUSTICE.—In the event of a permanent vacancy in the of7 fice of Chief Justice of the United States, the first ap8 pointment of a justice under this chapter following such 

9 vacancy shall be to the office of Chief Justice of the 

10 United States.’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 7. Appointment 

13 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ap15 point, by and with the advice and consent of the 

16 Senate, 1 individual to be a justice of the Supreme 

17 Court of the United States within the first 120 days 

18 of the first and third years of a Presidential term. 

19 ‘‘(2) WITHDRAWAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—If the 

20 nomination of an individual under this section is 

21 withdrawn or disapproved by the Senate, the Presi22 dent shall appoint, by and with the advice and con23 sent of the Senate, 1 individual to be a justice of the 

24 Supreme Court of the United States not later than 


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1 120 after the date of such withdrawal or dis2 approval. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—The President shall not 

4 appoint any individual to be a justice of the Su5 preme Court of the United States if the number of 

6 justices who do not hear appellate jurisdiction cases 

7 is 9. 

8 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSIVE MANNER OF APPOINTMENT.—Ex9 cept as provided under subsection (c), the President shall 

10 not appoint an individual to be a justice of the Supreme 

11 Court of the United States except as provided under this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(c) FEWER THAN 9 JUSTICES.—If due to a perma14 nent vacancy the total number of justices of the Supreme 

15 Court of the United States is fewer than 9, the President 

16 shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the 

17 Senate, such number of individuals as necessary to be a 

18 justice of the Supreme Court until the total number of 

19 justices of the Supreme Court is 9. 

20 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF APPOINTMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the term for justices appointed under this 

23 section shall begin on July 1. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FEWER THAN 9 JUSTICES.—The term of 

2 an appointment under subsection (c) shall begin on 

3 the date on which the appointment is made. 

4 ‘‘§ 8. Definitions 

5 ‘‘In this chapter— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘appellate jurisdiction cases’ 

7 means any action, proceeding, or controversy under 

8 section 1253, 1254, 1257, 1258, 1259, or 1260; 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘original jurisdiction cases’ means 

10 any action, proceeding, or controversy under section 

11 1251; 

12 ‘‘(3) the term ‘permanent vacancy’ means a va13 cancy in the office of justice of the Supreme Court 

14 of the United States due to death, resignation, re15 tirement, or removal; and 

16 ‘‘(4) the term ‘temporary absence’ means an 

17 absence due to disability, recusal, or disqualifica18 tion.’’. 

19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

20 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 28, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

‘‘7. Appointment. 

‘‘8. Definitions.’’. 

23 (c) RULES OF THE SENATE.—This section is enacted 

24 by Congress— 


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1 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

2 the Senate, and as such it is deemed a part of the 

3 rules of the Senate, and it supersedes other rules 

4 only to the extent that it is inconsistent with such 

5 rules; and 

6 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

7 right of the Senate to change such rules (so far as 

8 relating to the procedure of the Senate) at any time, 

9 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

10 the case of any other rule of the Senate. 

11 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

13 shall apply beginning on the date on which the first full 

14 term of a President commences pursuant to section 101 

15 of title 3, United States Code, after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

18 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

19 by this Act, or any application of such provision or amend20 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, 

21 the remainder of the provisions of this Act and the amend22 ments made by this Act and the application of the provi23 sion or amendment to any other person or circumstance 

24 shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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