u/IowaGrandma2012

The House voted 212 to 206 on Wednesday against a Republican-proposed constitutional amendment that would have permanently fixed the Supreme Court at nine justices, falling well short of the two-thirds majority required for adoption, according to CBS News. The amendment, proposed by GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, would have specified that “the Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices consisting of one chief justice and eight associate justices.” Biggs defended the measure during floor debate, saying, “It fixes the number of justices at nine permanently, not because nine is a magic number, but because a fixed court cannot be expanded by whoever happens to win the next election.” Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, followed by ratification from three-fourths of the states, a threshold this vote didn’t come close to reaching.

The vote fits into a broader pattern of Republican moves this week aimed at contrasting their positions with the Democratic Socialists of America, as several candidates aligned with the DSA’s platform are poised to join Congress next year. On Tuesday, the House adopted a resolution condemning socialism “in all its forms.” The DSA’s platform calls for replacing the Supreme Court with a “judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress,” and some Democrats have separately called for expanding the court in recent years, including Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, who voiced support Sunday for expanding the court to 13 justices. House Speaker Mike Johnson framed the nine-justice cap as essential ahead of the vote, saying Tuesday, “Nine justices has worked well. If you go down the road of packing the Supreme Court it turns into a political palooza, and it would not serve the country.”

House Democratic leadership urged members to vote against the amendment, arguing it would permanently strip Congress of a constitutional authority meant to remain under the control of elected representatives. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the House Democratic Whip, wrote in a notice to members: “This Republican majority, which has already surrendered Congressional war powers, Congressional taxing and tariff powers, and Congressional spending powers to President Trump, would now permanently relinquish the power to set the number of Supreme Court Justices, given to Congress in Article I of the Constitution.” CBS News notes that Congress has exercised its constitutional authority to change the total number of Supreme Court justices seven times since 1789, with the court holding nine seats consistently only since 1869. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, argued the amendment was driven by Republican anxiety about the upcoming midterm elections: “Trump’s followers in Congress now seek to freeze into place the political court that MAGA built, for decades to come. Thus, they urge us to give away another critical power that the framers vested in us.”