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Adds new sections (numbered 7 and 8) to chapter 1 of title 28, establishing a schedule and rules for Presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices, 18-year regular active service terms, limitations on repeat appointments, and transitional retirement rules for current justices.
Amends 28 U.S.C. 294 by (1) modifying punctuation in subsection (d), (2) redesignating existing subsection (e) as (f), and (3) inserting a new subsection (e) authorizing the Chief Justice to select a retired Supreme Court justice who retained their office, via a publicly transparent and randomized process, to serve as an associate justice when the Court's number falls below that provided in section 1, until the Court's active-justice count is restored.
Requires that each person confirmed as a Supreme Court justice serve a single, nonrenewable 18-year active term and sets requirements for when Presidents must nominate and how quickly the Senate must act. Sets a process to move sitting justices to retired status in sequence as new justices are commissioned, and allows eligible retired justices who retained office to serve temporarily by random selection if the Court has fewer active justices than the statute requires.
The President must, during the first and third years after a year in which there is a Presidential election, nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint one justice of the Supreme Court.
The President shall not appoint any justice of the Supreme Court except as provided in this section.
An individual, once confirmed by the Senate, may only serve one 18-year term as a Supreme Court Justice.
The Senate must exercise its advice and consent authority on nominations made under subsection (a) not later than 90 days after the date on which the individual is nominated by the President.
If the President withdraws a nomination or the Senate disapproves a nomination, the President shall make another nomination under subsection (a); the Senate must act on such a subsequent nomination not later than 120 days after that nomination.
Who is affected and how:
Supreme Court justices (current and future): Directly affected because active lifetime tenure is replaced by a single 18-year active term for each newly confirmed justice; current justices may be moved to retired status in an ordered sequence as the new commissionings occur.
Retired justices who retained office: May be eligible to serve temporarily as associate justices when the Court has fewer active members than the statute requires; selection is by the Chief Justice through a randomized, public process.
The President: Must follow a scheduled nomination cadence and will have predictable opportunities to nominate justices; timing constraints could affect presidential strategy for nominations.
The Senate: Faces statutory deadlines to consider nominations, which will require changes to committee and floor scheduling and could intensify pressure to act within set timeframes.
The Supreme Court as an institution and lower courts: Institutional operations will change, including roster management, case assignment, and planning for transitions; temporary assignments from retired justices could affect case deliberations and precedents.
The public and litigants: Over time, predictable 18-year terms will create more regular turnover on the Court, altering long-term expectations about ideology and case outcomes.
Legal and policy implications:
Constitutional questions: Imposing fixed active-term limits on Article III judges departs from the traditional understanding of life tenure 'during good Behaviour' and may be subject to legal challenge on separation-of-powers or Article III grounds.
Political dynamics: Deadlines and scheduled nominations could increase partisan pressure around predictable nomination windows and reshape strategic retirements, elevations, or timing by justices or presidents.
Operational readiness: The Court, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the White House, and the Senate will need new procedures to track term expirations, trigger nominations, and implement the temporary selection process for retired justices.
Uncertainties and risks:
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced May 21, 2025 by Hank Johnson · Last progress May 21, 2025
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Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House