HJRES 1 United States House · 119th Congress

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require that the Supreme Court of the United States be composed of nine justices.

This bill proposes a constitutional amendment requiring the U.S. Supreme Court to always have nine justices: one chief justice and eight associate justices. It directly affects the Court's structure by making the current nine-justice composition mandatory through the Constitution, rather than leaving it subject to future congressional changes. The key mechanism is a constitutional amendment process requiring ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures within seven years of submission. This would permanently establish the Court's size, bypassing the need for future laws to set the number. The bill does not change current Court operations or address other judicial matters.
Bill status failed 2 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Jul 2026
House Failed
Sep 2026
President
Introduced Jan 3, 2025 Last action Sep 2, 2026
Floor votes · House Sep 2, 2026

How they voted

212206
Failed · 15 other
Threshold to pass 290
Total votes 433
Sep 2, 2026
D Democratic214
1 Yea 205 Nay 8
95% Nay
I Independent1
1 Nay
100% Nay
R Republican218
211 Yea 7
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
14
Key actions
2
Committee
3
Sep 2, 2026
Vote failed
House Vote: Failed (212-206-15)
house
Jul 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 119-732.
lower
Jun 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
lower
Jan 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
lower
Jan 3, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors