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S.J.Res. 14 · 116th CongressIn committee

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require that the Supreme Court of the United States be composed of not more than 9 justices.

Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · March 25, 2019

Live record from Congress.gov, updated as the official record changes.
What this bill would do
Official summary · Congressional Research Service

Constitutional Amendment

This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment requiring the U.S. Supreme Court to be composed of not more than nine Justices.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 25, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Status
Introduced
March 25, 2019
In committee
March 25, 2019
Passed a chamber
Cleared Congress
Enacted
Where this sits in the process
Common questions
Composed from the official record
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?

4 steps remain before this joint resolution could become law.

The record's latest action, on March 25, 2019: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

  1. Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
  2. Passage by the Senate
  3. Passage by the House
  4. The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
What is a joint resolution, exactly?

A joint resolution travels the same road as a bill: both chambers pass it and the President signs it, and it then has the same force as any other law. The label is largely a matter of custom, often used for narrow or time-limited measures.

One exception matters. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution is not sent to the President at all. It goes to the states, and three quarters of them have to ratify it.

How likely is it to become law?

Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.

In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.

This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.

Has anyone actually voted on it?

No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.

A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.

Who is behind it?

Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced it on March 25, 2019, and 22 members have since signed on as cosponsors.

They are 22 Republicans.

Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.

How long has it been in play?

It was introduced on March 25, 2019, 2726 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2726 days ago, on March 25, 2019.

Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.

Vote history

  1. Senate
    In committee, no floor vote yet
  2. House
    Awaits Senate passage
  3. President
    Awaits both chambers
No recorded votes yet
No roll call in this Congress cites this bill. Most bills die in committee without ever reaching a recorded floor vote.