The House of Representatives rejected a proposed constitutional amendment on Sep. 2 that would fix the number of U.S. Supreme Court Justices at nine.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) introduced the joint resolution under suspended rules, but failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines at 212–206; only one Democrat supported the proposed amendment.
Biggs’s legislation would have added a single sentence to the Constitution:
‘‘The Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices consisting of one chief justice and eight associate justices.’’
Any attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution faces a tough, uphill battle. The resolution would need support from two-thirds of the House and the Senate, and would need to be ratified by legislatures in 38 out of 50 states. …