Democrats in the US House of Representatives defeated a constitutional amendment to permanently cap the Supreme Court at nine justices.
According to Reuters, Democrats on Wednesday, September 2, voted against a Republican proposal designed to make the court's conservative majority a campaign issue ahead of November 3 elections.
House Republicans staged the vote to highlight the potential for Democrats, angered by rulings on issues such as abortion and voting rights, to expand the court and weaken its conservative majority if they regain control of Congress in November's midterms.
The measure failed 212-206, far short of the necessary two-thirds majority to pass in the House.
Republicans control 218 seats in the House, compared with 214 held by Democrats. Even had the measure passed, it faced long odds in the US Senate and would have needed to then be ratified by 38 of the 50 US states.
Republicans and Democrats, when holding majority control of the House, have historically staged votes on bills they know will fail but are known as "messaging bills" that can be used to shore up support with voters during election campaigns and force political opponents into taking stands on thorny issues.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's decision to schedule the vote with few legislative days left before the November 3 elections underscored Republican concerns that Trump's low approval ratings could cost the party its House or Senate majority.
"Defending the integrity of the Supreme Court shouldn’t be a controversial vote," Johnson said in a statement afterwards, referring to Democrats.
House Republicans supporting Wednesday's proposed amendment argued it was necessary to put an end to Democratic proposals to alter the court's size after President Donald Trump, a Republican, appointed three justices to give the court a conservative 6-3 majority.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said in a speech opposing the measure, "Surprise, surprise America. It's another partisan power grab by MAGA, our colleagues who fear for the results in the November election as their policies have brought us nothing but war, inflation, corruption, lawlessness and a $40 trillion debt."
The US Constitution does not establish how many justices should sit on the Supreme Court, and the size has fluctuated over the course of US history, with Congress reducing it to as few as five justices and expanding it to as many as 10 over the years.
The Supreme Court has had nine justices since 1869.
