The House has scheduled a vote on an important piece of legislation this week that will protect the integrity of the Supreme Court and, ultimately, our Republic. H.J.Res. 1, also known as the “Keep 9 Amendment,” is a Constitutional amendment that would simply set the number of Supreme Court justices at nine. Your Representative needs to hear from you that safeguarding the Supreme Court is a top priority!

The Constitution does not specify the number of justices for the Supreme Court but leaves that decision to Congress. Throughout American history, the number has varied, but in 1869, the Judiciary Act increased the number of justices from six to nine. Since then, this number has proven to be a manageable size. Nine justices allow for intimate yet robust debates, while the odd number allows most decisions to be decided by a majority, one way or the other. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it herself: 

I think that was a bad idea when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to pack the court. If anything would make the court appear more partisan, it would be that. So, I am not at all in favor of that solution. Nine seems to be a good number. It’s been that way for a long time. Nine seems to be a good number. It’s been that way for a long time. 

This matter has become urgent in recent years. The Left has openly and repeatedly threatened to pack the court once they regain power in the Senate and White House. They are unhappy with many of the decisions in recent years, including the Dobbs decision that overruled Roe v. Wade and returned the power to regulate abortion to legislatures and the people, instead of the judicial branch. 

Threatening court packing is not just campaign rhetoric from the Left. Nearly 50 elected Democrats have proposed bills in the last five years to significantly expand the Supreme Court. Keep in mind, if they have the votes to pass any of these bills, they will certainly have the votes to confirm all their politically charged justices who would advance their own agendas rather than base their decisions on the Constitution. Adding new justices to dilute the influence of current members is an overtly political act and should not be entertained.

If Republicans fail to keep their majorities in the House and Senate in the November midterm elections, we may lose the chance to maintain the Supreme Court as an independent, non-partisan body that provides checks and balances on the other branches of government. If Democrats win, packing the Supreme Court will not only be used to overturn many recent pro-family wins but will also be used to create a so-called ‘progressive’ majority on the Court for decades to come. 

Let your Representative know that nine has been just fine! Please call or email your Member of Congress, regardless of party, and ask them to vote in favor of H.J.Res. 1, the Keep 9 Amendment.