The House voted Wednesday on a constitutional amendment that would permanently fix the U.S. Supreme Court at nine justices.
The proposal won a 212-206 majority. But because it was considered under a procedure requiring support from two-thirds of members voting, the measure failed.
The breakdown was nearly a straight party-line vote.
The official House Clerk roll call shows 211 Republicans and one Democrat voting yes. Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina was the lone Democrat supporting the amendment.
On the other side, 205 Democrats voted no. Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California also opposed the measure, while 15 members did not vote.
Every Republican who voted on the resolution supported it. The Clerk recorded the final status as “Failed” because the vote did not reach the constitutional threshold.
That left the amendment 67 votes short of the 279 it needed from the 418 members who cast a yea or nay vote. A simple majority was not enough under the two-thirds procedure used for the 4:34 p.m. vote.
Democrats dropped the mask today. 205 House Democrats just voted against keeping SCOTUS at nine justices. They no longer hide it: Give them power, and they’ll pack the Court until they get the rulings they want. That’s not justice. It’s judicial tyranny.https://t.co/babl2WXz3P
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) September 2, 2026
The official resolution is remarkably brief. It would add a constitutional requirement that the Supreme Court consist of nine members: one chief justice and eight associate justices.
The resolution was sponsored by Republican Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, with Republican Representatives Rick Allen of Georgia and Derek Schmidt of Kansas listed as cosponsors. GovInfo says the Judiciary Committee reported the measure and ordered it printed.
That language would take the Court’s current size out of ordinary congressional control. A future House, Senate and president could not add seats with a regular statute.
Instead, changing the number again would require another constitutional amendment—a two-thirds vote in both chambers followed by ratification from three-fourths of the states.
Biggs has framed the amendment as a safeguard against court packing regardless of which party controls Washington.
Almost every single House Democrat voted AGAINST keeping the Supreme Court at nine justices.
Democrats want to pack the Court and turn it into a permanent woke and weaponized veto.
The Democrat Party has been taken over by radicals. They are absolutely CRAZY. pic.twitter.com/JHpyitPCZ8
— Rep. Keith Self (@RepKeithSelf) September 2, 2026
Republicans brought the measure to the floor amid renewed Democratic calls to expand the Court.
CBS News reported that Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., recently voiced support for increasing the Court to 13 justices. The Democratic Socialists of America’s platform goes considerably further, calling for a judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.
Speaker Mike Johnson argued that a fixed nine-member Court would prevent whichever party wins the next election from changing its size to pursue favorable rulings.
House Democratic leaders urged their members to vote no. Their stated objection was that the amendment would permanently surrender a power Congress has historically exercised.
Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., told Democrats that setting the number of justices is a congressional authority and argued the Republican majority should not write away that power.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., similarly portrayed the proposal as an attempt to preserve the current Court’s ideological balance ahead of the November elections.
The size of the Supreme Court is not specified in the Constitution as it now stands. Congress has changed the number several times, and the Court has remained at nine seats since 1869.
BREAKING: House Fails To Secure 2/3 Vote—Radical Majority of Democrats Vote Against Passing Constitutional Amendment to Lock Supreme Court at Nine Justices https://t.co/1AQJ7OJx1M
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) September 3, 2026
The Republican Study Committee said supporters viewed the amendment as a way to insulate the judiciary from attempts by future political majorities to add seats for partisan advantage.
Members backing the resolution pointed to the Court’s nine-seat structure for more than 150 years and argued that a constitutional limit of one chief justice and eight associate justices would keep the rules from changing with election results.
Opponents disputed that framing and defended Congress’s existing authority. The vote therefore exposed a clear divide over whether the Court’s size should be permanently settled or remain subject to legislation.
For now, the nine-justice amendment is dead in the House despite receiving more yes votes than no votes.
And the roll call leaves no mystery about where the parties stood: all voting Republicans backed it, while all but one voting Democrat opposed it.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
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