House Democrats to introduce proposal seeking term limits for Supreme Court justices

House Democrats are planning to introduce a bill next week that would put an 18-year term limit on Supreme Court justices.

The justices have always been appointed to life on the court. However, with another Republican expected to join the court replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it will presumably be six Republicans and three Democrats.

The new bill, called the Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act, would allow every president to nominate two justices to the court per four-year term. It is the first bill to try to set Supreme Court term limits by statute.

“It would save the country a lot of agony and help lower the temperature over fights for the court that go to the fault lines of cultural issues and is one of the primary things tearing at our social fabric,” said California Rep. Ro Khanna, who plans to introduce the legislation Tuesday. 

While House Democrats would like to limit the length that a justice can serve on the Supreme Court, there are no term limits in place for the House and Senate.