U.S. Senate Democrats have introduced legislation amending the constitution to establish term limits for Supreme Court justices — but with no term limits for Congress in sight. Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W. Va., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., brought the bill forth this week limiting future Supreme Court appointees to 18-year terms. Manchin, along with Kyrsten Sinema, I-Az., recently angered Democrats’ left-most base in spoiling a Democrat-controlled National Labor Relations Board.
However, the proposed legislation may violate Article III of the Constitution. But what would happen if such a measure were taken up? The appointment of a new justice in the wake of a current justice’s rotation off the court might eventually inaugurate a cycle wherein a new justice was appointed every two years.
In other words, court appointments will be directly indexed to the winning presidential ticket. Advocates have said such a move would lower the temperature of Senate confirmation hearings. Whether that would actually transpire is unclear, but it would surely raise the stakes in presidential campaigns. In any event, the legislation represents a guarantee of two appointments per term, increasing the stakes in controlling the executive branch, if not a technical increase in executive power.
Democrats Plan to Establish Supreme Court Term Limits
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