IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1138 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the number of 

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States should remain at nine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

Mr. JORDAN (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. BUCK, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. 

RESCHENTHALER, Mr. CLINE, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. STEUBE, and Mr. 

TIFFANY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the number of Justices of the Supreme Court of the 

United States should remain at nine. 

Whereas Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution expressly 

provides that the President ‘‘shall nominate, and by and 

with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint 

. . . Judges of the supreme Court . . .’’; 

Whereas the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the judicial system of the United States’’, approved April 10, 1869 

(commonly known as the Judiciary Act of 1869), states 

that ‘‘the Supreme Court of the United States shall hereVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1138.IH HR1138

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•HRES 1138 IH 

after consist of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices’’; 

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States has consisted of a Chief Justice and eight associate Justices for 

151 years; 

Whereas previous attempts to increase the number of Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States have 

been rejected and widely condemned by individuals of 

both political parties; 

Whereas, in 1937, when former President Franklin Delano 

Roosevelt proposed the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill 

of 1937, a bill that sought to expand the number of Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States from 9 

Justices to 15 Justices, he was harshly criticized by both 

parties and his own Vice President, John Nance Garner; 

Whereas, during the Trump Administration, Democrats have 

refused to recognize the legitimacy of President Trump’s 

Supreme Court nominees and have advocated for packing 

the court with additional Justices appointed by a future 

Democrat president; 

Whereas, in 2019, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

stated, ‘‘I think it was a bad idea when President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court’’, and that ‘‘[i]f anything would make the court look partisan, it would be 

that’’; 

Whereas the House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman 

Jerrold Nadler stated in a tweet, ‘‘If Sen. McConnell and 

@SenateGOP were to force through a nominee during 

the lame-duck session—before a new Senate and President can take office—then the incoming Senate should 

immediately move to expand the Supreme Court.’’; 


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•HRES 1138 IH 

Whereas Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer stated, 

‘‘Let me be clear: if Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the 

table for next year. Nothing is off the table.’’; 

Whereas Representative Joe Kennedy III stated in a tweet, 

‘‘If [Senate Majority Leader McConnell] holds a vote in 

2020, we pack the court in 2021. It’s that simple.’’; 

Whereas Senator Ed Markey stated in a tweet, ‘‘No Supreme 

Court vacancies filled in an election year. If [Senate Majority Leader McConnell] violates it, when Democrats 

control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish 

the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.’’; 

Whereas, in July 2019, the Democrat Presidential Candidate 

Joe Biden said, ‘‘I’m not prepared to go on and try to 

pack the court, because we’ll live to rue that day’’ and 

‘‘I would not get into court packing. We add three justices. Next time around we lose control, they add three 

justices. We begin to lose any credibility the court has at 

all.’’; 

Whereas the Constitution is based on the principle of separation of powers to provide for checks and balances on each 

branch of the Federal Government, and expanding the 

Supreme Court purely for political advantage threatens 

the separation of powers and the system of checks and 

balances established in the Constitution; 

Whereas the Federal judiciary is insulated from political influence through lifetime appointments and other measures to preserve its independence, and an attempt to expand the Supreme Court purely for political purposes 

threatens the independence and integrity of the Supreme 


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•HRES 1138 IH 

Court and, thus, the entirety of the judiciary it oversees; 

and 

Whereas any attempt to increase the number of Justices of 

the Supreme Court of the United States or ‘‘pack the 

court’’ would undermine our democratic institutions and 

destroy the credibility of our Nation’s highest Court: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives con2 demns and opposes any attempt to increase the number 

3 of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States 

4 or otherwise ‘‘pack the court’’. 

Æ 


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