Title: 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.
Policy area: Law

Summary:
This resolution condemns any attempt to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1138 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 
        hereafter 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.'';
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 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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives condemns and opposes 
any attempt to increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court of 
the United States or otherwise ``pack the court''.
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