HYDE-SMITH, CRUZ OFFER CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO CEMENT SUPREME COURT AT NINE JUSTICES
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today joined U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and others in reintroducing a proposed constitutional amendment that would ensure only nine justices could serve on the U.S. Supreme Court at a time.
The “Keep Nine” constitutional amendment is paired with a Cruz bill to create a point of order requiring a supermajority (two-thirds) vote before any legislative effort to modify the size of the Court could be considered in the Senate. In recent years, multiple Democrats have come out in favor of packing the Supreme Court by adding at least four additional seats.
“For more than 150 years, our United States Supreme Court has carried out its duty with nine justices. It is both nonsensical and dangerous for Democrats to pack the courts solely because it suits their political agenda,” Hyde-Smith said. “This legislation would insulate the courts from political posturing, and keep checks and balances operating as they were designed to do.”
“The Democrats’ answer to a Supreme Court that is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and the Constitution is to pack it with liberals who will rule the way they want. The Supreme Court should be independent, not inflated by every new administration. That’s why I’ve introduced a constitutional amendment to permanently keep the number of justices at nine,” said Cruz, who also introduced the legislation in previous sessions of Congress.
If enacted, the two proposals would provide a substantial barrier to attempts to change the composition of the Supreme Court. Currently, the number of justices on the Court could be modified with a simple majority vote in Congress and the approval of the President.
U.S. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cotton (R-Ark.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) also cosponsored the “Keep Nine” constitutional amendment.
Click here to read statements of support from the Keep Nine Coalition, Americans for Limited Government, Liberty Counsel, Americans for Tax Reform, Eagle Forum, and others.
Read the amendment here. Read the Point of Order Against Court Packing here.
###