Conservative gambit to lock Supreme Court at nine justices falters in House

The House on Wednesday rejected, 211-206, a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would have permanently capped the Supreme Court at nine justices. GOP lawmakers, led by Arizona Representative Andy Biggs and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, framed the measure as a preemptive block on Democratic 'court-packing,' pointing to past Democratic bills that would have added four seats.

Democrats, including Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, countered that Republicans were angling to lock in a bench President Trump has shaped with three appointees and that has delivered him favorable rulings, including on presidential immunity. The vote fell far short of the two-thirds threshold required, and even a House win would have faced a near-impossible path through the Senate and three-fourths of state legislatures.

The push arrives against a backdrop of ethics controversies at the court itself, including undisclosed gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas and hospitality accepted by Justice Samuel Alito, which prompted the justices to adopt a voluntary conduct code with no enforcement mechanism. Republicans have pursued similar nine-justice amendments before, including one from Senator Chuck Grassley and Ted Cruz last year, with the same non-outcome.

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