One bill proposes increasing the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to 13. Another would cut their lifetime terms to 18 years. Others would create an enforceable ethics code and place standards on how the court rules from its relatively opaque “shadow docket.”
Democrats propose adding Supreme Court justices, limiting their terms
Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court in October 2025 after conservative justices suggested they would restrict the creation of majority-Black and majority-Hispanic voting districts. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg News/Getty Images)
