House Passes Supreme Court Amendment

A bipartisan coalition today approved an amendment to the U.S. Constitution fixing the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices.

Rep. Bacon

The amendment was pushed in order to counter pressure for President Biden to expand the Supreme Court to protect Democratic legislative accomplishments from judicial review. The amendment's author, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), opened debate on the measure by playing a 1983 recording of then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) describing court-packing as a "bonehead idea." Bacon urged his colleagues to support the amendment to "protect the glorious system of checks and balances." 

Some Democrats, including Reps. Cori Bush (Missouri) and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (New York), expressed strong reservations about the measure, saying that rigid approaches to the size of the Court have created egregious injustices in the past. However, other Democrats were open to the amendment with some additions, including a code of ethics for justices as well as 18-year term limits for all future justices.  

The amendment passed with a 21-5 vote, exceeding the two-thirds majority needed for passage. The amendment now heads to state legislatures, where, if it receives approval from 38 states, it will become the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In other legislative action, House Republicans were able to push through several longstanding goals, including:

-A 35% cut in federal funds for reproductive services provided by Planned Parenthood. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Florida) described the measure as a "war on murder," while Rep. Doris Matsui (D-California) accused Republicans of hypocrisy by saying, "You say that life is sacred at conception, you don’t seem to care after they’re born."

Rep. Frost

-A national voter identification card requirement for all federal elections. Speaker Andy Biggs noted that many American believe that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and claimed that greater ballot security would improve voters' perceptions of the process. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida), however, argued that “Voter fraud is not an issue -- this vote is to disenfranchise minority voters.” Rep. Bush claimed that Republicans are blaming imaginary fraudulent voters for their losses when in fact they're just bad at crafting public policy.

-A bill to provide a path to legal U.S. residency for up to 10 million immigrants annually who are willing to pay a fee of 2% of their annual income.