WASHINGTON – Democrats in the House of Representatives batted down a longshot constitutional amendment to freeze the number of justices on the Supreme Court at nine.
As the midterm elections approach, the GOP-led push created a new campaign trail talking point for Republicans against their opponents on the left, who've increasingly capitalized on the high court's record of decisions favorable to President Donald Trump to call for more seats on the bench, also known as "court packing."
Congress holds the power to determine the Supreme Court's makeup. It has exercised that authority seven times in history, though lawmakers haven't actually used it since 1869.
The Sept. 2 measure failed on a 212-206 vote, with only one Democrat, Rep. Don Davis of
North Carolina, siding with Republicans. It would've needed two-thirds support in the chamber to pass, kicking off a circuitous process to become law. A constitutional amendment hasn't succeeded since 1992.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, argued on the House floor that he was trying to make the judicial bench more independent.
"We should not change the Supreme Court simply because we don't like the people sitting on it," he said.
Democrats, on the other hand, accused Republicans of aiming to forfeit yet another one of the powers explicitly delegated to Congress in the Constitution. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, a constitutional law professor and the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, called it "another partisan power grab by MAGA."
"The right-wing capture of the court, fueled by corporate dark money and the Citizens United decision, has plunged this court into a legitimacy crisis, an ethics crisis and a jurisprudential crisis like has never been seen before in American history," he said.
Over the course of President Trump's second term, the court's conservative wing has repeatedly decided to expand presidential authority, issuing new powers to the White House while effectively greenlighting mass federal government firings. Though the justices have dealt some political blows to the president on issues he cared about – namely tariffs and birthright citizenship – surveys still show most Americans think the court typically sides with him.
Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House bats down measure to prevent Supreme Court from expanding
