I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8424 
To establish a process by which the appointment of Supreme Court Justices 
can occur at regular time intervals, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 
Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Mr. BEYER, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish a process by which the appointment of Supreme 
Court Justices can occur at regular time intervals, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supreme Court Term 
Limits and Regular Appointments Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:31 Oct 24, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8424.IH
H8424
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
‘‘§ 7. Term limits 
‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall, during 
the first and third years after a year in which there is 
a Presidential election, nominate, and by and with the ad-
vice and consent of the Senate, appoint one Justice of the 
Supreme Court. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A Justice appointed pursu-
ant to subsection (a) shall be sworn into office on August 
1 of the year on which the appointment is made. 
‘‘§ 8. Senior Justices 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), if there are more than nine Justices on the Supreme 
Court after an appointed Justice is sworn into office, the 
Justice who has served on the Supreme Court for the long-
est period of time shall be deemed a Justice retired from 
regular active service under section 371(b). 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—No Justice appointed before the 
date of enactment of this Act shall be required to retire 
under subsection (a). 
‘‘§ 9. Waiver of advice and consent authority 
‘‘If the Senate does not exercise its advice and con-
sent authority with respect to a President’s nominee to 
the Supreme Court within 120 days after the nomination, 
the Senate shall be deemed to have waived its advice and 
consent authority with respect to such nominee, and the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:31 Oct 24, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8424.IH
H8424
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
(4) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e)(1) When there is a vacancy on the Supreme 
Court due to the death, disability certification under sec-
tion 372, or removal of a Justice, the retired Chief Justice 
of the United States or Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court who has most recently become a Senior Justice shall 
be designated and assigned to serve as a Justice until an 
appointment is made under section 7 of this title. 
‘‘(2) If there is more than one vacancy on the Su-
preme Court, the Senior Justice who has served in such 
capacity for the least amount of time shall be designated 
and assigned to serve as a Justice by the Chief Justice 
until each vacancy on the Supreme Court is filled. 
‘‘(f) Any Chief Justice of the United States or Asso-
ciate Justice of the Supreme Court who has retired from 
regular active service under section 372 may not be a Sen-
ior Justice.’’. 
SEC. 4. EXCEPTION TO APPOINTMENT OF A SUCCESSOR. 
(a) RETIRED JUSTICES.—Section 371 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (d)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘justice or’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the period at the 
end the following: ‘‘or designate a Senior Jus-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:31 Oct 24, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8424.IH
H8424
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
tice in accordance with section 294(e) to fill a 
vacancy resulting from the retirement of a jus-
tice under this section’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) Any justice of the United States who has served 
a total of 18 years as a justice shall be treated as a justice 
retired from regular active service under this section, un-
less the justice is otherwise eligible to retire as a result 
of a disability under section 372.’’. 
(b) DISABLED JUSTICES.—Section 372(a) of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended in the first sentence, by 
inserting after ‘‘a successor’’ the following: ‘‘or, in the case 
of a justice of the United States, fill the vacancy in accord-
ance with section 294(e)’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:31 Oct 24, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H8424.IH
H8424
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS