[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1074 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1074
To establish a process by which the appointment of Supreme Court
Justices can occur at regular time intervals, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2025
Mr. Khanna (for himself, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Casten, Ms. Omar,
Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, and Ms.
Ansari) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a process by which the appointment of Supreme Court
Justices can occur at regular time intervals, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supreme Court Term Limits and
Regular Appointments Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 7. Term limits
``The President shall, 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.
``Sec. 8. Senior Justices
``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (c), the panel
of justices exercising Judicial power in Cases and Controversies shall
comprise the nine most junior Justices.
``(b) Deemed Retired.--After a Justice has served 18 years, that
Justice shall be deemed a Justice retired from regular active service
under section 371(b).
``(c) Exception.--No Justice appointed before the date of enactment
of this Act shall be counted toward the panel of nine Justices
described in subsection (a), nor shall they be required to retire from
regular active service under subsection (b).
``Sec. 9. Waiver of advice and consent authority
``If the Senate does not exercise its advice and consent authority
with respect to a President's nominee to the Supreme Court within 120
days after the nomination, the Senate shall be deemed to have waived
its advice and consent authority with respect to such nominee, and the
nominee shall be seated as a Justice of the Supreme Court.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 1 of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``7. Term limits.
``8. Senior Justices.
``9. Waiver of advice and consent authority.''.
SEC. 3. SENIOR JUSTICES.
Section 294 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
``(a) Any Chief Justice of the United States or Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court who has retired from regular active service under
section 371(b) of this title shall be known and designated as a Senior
Justice and may continue to perform such judicial duties as such
Justice is willing and able to undertake, when designated and assigned
by the Chief Justice of the United States.'';
(2) in subsection (d), by striking ``of such court'' and
all that follows through ``Supreme Court.'' and inserting: ``of
such court, except that any designation or assignment made to
the Supreme Court shall be in accordance with subsection
(e).'';
(3) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g); and
(4) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e)(1) When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court due to the
death, disability certification under section 372, or removal of a
Justice, the retired Chief Justice of the United States or Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court who has most recently become a Senior
Justice shall be designated and assigned to serve as a Justice until an
appointment is made under section 7 of this title.
``(2) If there is more than one vacancy on the Supreme Court, the
Senior Justice who has served in such capacity for the least amount of
time shall be designated and assigned to serve as a Justice by the
Chief Justice until each vacancy on the Supreme Court is filled.
``(f) Any Chief Justice of the United States or Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court who has retired from regular active service under
section 372 may not be a Senior Justice.''.
SEC. 4. EXCEPTION TO APPOINTMENT OF A SUCCESSOR.
(a) Retired Justices.--Section 371 of title 28, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in subsection (d)--
(A) by striking ``justice or''; and
(B) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``or designate a Senior Justice in
accordance with section 294(e) to fill a vacancy
resulting from the retirement of a justice under this
section''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Any justice of the United States who has served a total of 18
years as a justice shall be treated as a justice retired from regular
active service under this section, unless the justice is otherwise
eligible to retire as a result of a disability under section 372.''.
(b) Disabled Justices.--Section 372(a) of title 28, United States
Code, is amended in the first sentence, by inserting after ``a
successor'' the following: ``or, in the case of a justice of the United
States, fill the vacancy in accordance with section 294(e)''.
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