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House Democrats block Keep Nine amendment locking the Supreme Court at 9

Washington, District of ColumbiaPublished 4 Sep 2026

The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Color Photographs / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · source

Andy Biggs’s constitutional amendment failed 212-206, short of two-thirds. All but one Democrat voted no; Republicans called it a vote against court-packing.

The House on Sept. 2 rejected a Republican constitutional amendment to lock the Supreme Court at nine justices, 212-206, short of the two-thirds needed. Rep. Andy Biggs sponsored the Keep Nine text. Rep. Don Davis was the only Democrat to vote yes. Democrats said Congress should keep the power to set the court’s size; Republicans framed the no votes as a green light to pack the court before the midterms.

Shared facts

The House on Wednesday rejected the amendment 212-206, short of the two-thirds majority required.

Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina was the only Democrat who voted for the amendment.

All House Republicans who voted supported the amendment.

Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona sponsored the amendment to lock the Supreme Court at nine justices.

The amendment would have written into the Constitution that the Supreme Court consists of nine justices, one chief justice and eight associates.

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s office urged Democrats to vote no.

Clark’s office said the amendment would permanently fix the court at nine and strip Congress of a power meant for the people’s representatives.

Clark’s office said the amendment would do nothing to address the affordability crisis under President Trump.

The Constitution does not fix the number of justices; Congress sets the court’s size by statute.

Congress has changed the court’s size several times, from as few as five or six justices to as many as 10.

The Supreme Court has had nine justices since 1869.

Kamala Harris has voiced support for expanding the Supreme Court, including to 13 justices.

Rep. Jim Clyburn endorsed expanding the court to 13, calling a baker’s dozen a good number.

Republicans said the amendment was needed to block future efforts to pack the court.

Rep. Jamie Raskin said Republicans and President Trump created a profoundly partisan and lopsided court.

Marinella said House Democrats would use power to transform America into an unrecognizable socialist hellscape.

Republicans used the vote to put Democrats on the record ahead of the midterm elections.

The House had just passed a resolution condemning socialism.

After Congress, 38 states would have had to ratify the amendment.

The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.

The vote was widely treated as symbolic because the amendment was not expected to become law.

Article V requires two-thirds of both chambers, then ratification by three-fourths of the states.

NBC News

House Democrats block constitutional amendment to lock Supreme Court size at 9 justices

Sahil Kapur and Kyle Stewart

Published 2 Sep 2026 accessed 4 Sep 2026

Facts

Openness among Democrats to expand the court by four seats is growing.

That majority overturned Roe v. Wade, weakened the Voting Rights Act, and granted Trump immunity for official acts.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established six justices.

Many Democrats have not endorsed expanding the Supreme Court.

Josh Orton of Demand Justice said expanding the court has gone from a fringe idea to the mainstream.

Demand Justice has been pushing for court expansion since 2020.

Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who caucuses with Republicans, voted against the amendment.

Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans will keep nine seats on the court if they stay in charge.

Johnson told reporters the Democratic Socialists of America and communist socialists are taking over the Democratic Party.

Orton said Demand Justice will keep building the case for major court reform through 2028.

Orton said court expansion will be an issue in the 2028 presidential race.

Opinion

Court expansion has moved from the far left into the Democratic mainstream.

Orton said the public sees the Roberts majority as more corrupt, friendlier to corporate power and Trump, and more antidemocratic.

Orton said people understand court expansion is now an emergency.

Orton said Republicans would already have expanded the court if it had a long-standing progressive majority.

Orton said expansion has to happen in the first two years of the next Democratic administration.

Washington Examiner

House Democrats sink GOP amendment to prevent Supreme Court expansion

Emily Hallas

Published 2 Sep 2026 accessed 4 Sep 2026

Facts

NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said Democrats voted no so they can follow through on a radical socialist agenda.

Sen. Ed Markey has backed legislation to expand the court to 13 justices.

Johnson said defending the Supreme Court’s integrity should not be a controversial vote.

Republicans hold 218 House seats and Democrats 214.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

Newsweek

One Democrat Votes to Keep Supreme Court at 9 Justices

Newsweek

Published 2 Sep 2026 accessed 4 Sep 2026

Facts

The measure was called the Keep Nine Amendment.

The one-chief, eight-associate structure dates to the Judiciary Act of 1869.

Supporters argue the nine-member arrangement has provided stability for generations.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said the amendment would undermine the system of checks and balances.

Court expansion is one of several reform ideas discussed by Democrats and legal scholars.

Even after House approval, a constitutional amendment faces a difficult path.

Relatively few amendments have been adopted because of those requirements.

Opinion

Expansion advocates argue adding justices could ease partisanship concerns and restore public confidence.

Critics say expansion could start a cycle of each party adding seats for favorable rulings.

Critics argue expansion would undermine judicial independence and further politicize the court.

Supporters say reforms are needed because the court has enormous influence over national policy.

New York Post

Dems kill Supreme Court constitutional amendment — keep DSA dream alive to abolish justices

Ryan King

Published 2 Sep 2026 accessed 4 Sep 2026

Facts

The DSA wants to abolish the Supreme Court and replace it with a judiciary subordinate to Congress.

Johnson said only a couple of House Democrats have said they are not on board with the DSA.

Republicans have been hammering Democrats over the rise of the DSA in primaries.

Franklin D. Roosevelt threatened to pack the court in the 1930s.

Statutory expansion would need to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster.

Many prominent Democrats have floated expanding the Supreme Court out of frustration with it.

Biggs asked in July how the court can check government if that government can pack it whenever it dislikes a ruling.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

Fox News

Republicans fail to ease one of Trump's greatest fears as Supreme Court measure collapses

Elizabeth Elkind

Published 2 Sep 2026 accessed 4 Sep 2026

Facts

Trump has warned for months that Democrats would expand the Supreme Court if they took Congress.

The amendment failed to reach two-thirds even though a House majority supported it.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has affirmed support for expanding the court.

Speaker Johnson fast-tracked the bill by suspending the rules, raising the threshold from a simple majority to two-thirds.

Biggs asked Wednesday what happens the next time the other side is in power if a majority can change the court’s size when it dislikes rulings.

Rep. Jamie Raskin is among progressives calling to increase the court to 13 justices.

The bench is currently occupied by eight justices and one chief justice.

Raskin said the proposal would strip Congress of authority and freeze nine justices in the Constitution.

Progressives have argued 13 justices would mean one justice for every federal circuit court.

Raskin was referring to Mitch McConnell’s role in securing the current conservative majority.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said locking the number at nine would extend the current conservative majority’s power.

Rep. Mark Harris said the left’s court-expansion push is an effort to seize political power.

Opinion

Fox News said House Democrats are nuking Republicans’ effort to ease one of Trump’s biggest concerns.

Biggs said packing the court would turn it into a political institution controlled by whoever holds the majority.

Raskin called the amendment a partisan power grab by MAGA colleagues who fear the November election.

Rep. Mark Harris said calls to pack the court aim to consolidate power and intimidate the justices, not protect rights.

Just the News

House Democrats block proposed Constitutional amendment that would cap SCOTUS at nine justices

Misty Severi

Published 2 Sep 2026 accessed 4 Sep 2026

Facts

Eight centrist Democrats crossed the aisle to support the anti-socialism resolution.

Opinion

Calls to pack the court have grown after Republicans confirmed conservative justices who ruled in landmark cases favoring the right.