Democracy Rules

Many believe today’s Supreme Court is not only highly political, it’s also polarized along partisan lines, much like our other political institutions. In 2017, the Senate Leader changed the “60-vote rule” needed to confirm a Supreme Court justice, to a mere majority of 51 votes. Advocates claim that without the need to make any concessions to the opposing party, the Senate now confirms the most extreme, ideological nominees that can be found by the party in power. Many say this has resulted in a Supreme Court whose values do not reflect those of the majority of Americans. Term limits for justices has been suggested as one way to rebalance the current shortcomings of the Court.

The Constitution does not expressly grant “life tenure” to Supreme Court justices. Rather, this idea has been derived from the actual language that says judges and justices “shall hold their offices during good behavior.” Advocates suggest a single 18-year term at the high court would restore limits to this most powerful, least accountable branch of American government. Senior justices could then sit on lower federal courts, as many retired justices have done, or fill in if there’s an unexpected vacancy in our highest court. Such an option would not contradict our Constitution.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of H.R.8424 - Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act of 2020 (116th Congress 2019-2020)
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Ro Khanna (CA)

I oppose reforming current SCOTUS term limits policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA).
I support allowing presidents to nominate two new Supreme Court appointees per four-year term and ending life tenure at the Court for future justices in favor of an 18-year term, after which justices would serve on a lower court for as long as they wished or would temporarily fill in at Court in case of an unexpected vacancy, and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Ro Khanna (CA) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.

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I support allowing presidents to nominate two new Supreme Court appointees per four-year term and ending life tenure at the Court for future justices in favor of an 18-year term, after which justices would serve on a lower court for as long as they wished or would temporarily fill in at Court in case of an unexpected vacancy, and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Ro Khanna (CA) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.