US House Rejects Republican Effort to Permanently Cap Supreme Court at Nine Justices

The US House of Representatives rejected a Republican backed joint resolution that would have amended the Constitution to permanently limit the Supreme Court to nine justices. The measure failed to reach the required two thirds majority, with a final vote of 212 in favor and 206 against. The vote largely followed party lines, although North Carolina Democrat Don Davis supported the measure and independent Representative Kevin Kiley, who caucuses with Republicans, voted against it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized Democrats for opposing the resolution, stating that defending the integrity of the Supreme Court should not be controversial. The vote occurred one day after the House approved a resolution condemning socialism by a vote of 220 to 192. Some reports suggest these efforts were primarily messaging exercises intended to put Democrats on record ahead of the November midterm elections.

The debate over the court's size follows calls from some Democrats to expand the court to counter its conservative majority, a process critics call court packing. While the current number of justices was set by Congress in 1869, the US Constitution does not specify the size of the court. Historically, the number of justices has changed several times, most notably during a proposal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 to add justices based on the age of sitting members.