“To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the duration of active service of justices of the Supreme Court, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a regular appointment process for Supreme Court justices under new 28 U.S.C. §§7 and 8, requiring the President to nominate, and with Senate advice and consent appoint, one justice during the first and third years following a presidential election year (e.g., 2025 and 2027 after the 2024 election), which is the exclusive method of appointment and limited to one 18-year term per individual. It requires the Senate to provide advice and consent within 90 days of nomination (or 120 days for a subsequent nomination if the initial one is withdrawn or disapproved). New justices serve 18 years in regular active service from the date sworn in, after which they are deemed retired under 28 U.S.C. §371(b). Current justices serving on the date of enactment are deemed retired in order of seniority (longest-serving first) upon the commissioning of each new justice appointed under §7. (Thus, the nine current seats will turn over through nine staggered appointments.)
This section establishes a process under which the Chief Justice selects, through a publicly transparent and randomized process, a Supreme Court justice who has retired from regular active service under 28 U.S.C. §371 but retained office to serve temporarily as an associate justice when the number of active justices falls below nine (as provided in 28 U.S.C. §1) due to vacancy, disability, or disqualification, until the number of active justices reaches nine. The section further modifies the prohibition on designating or assigning retired judges to the Supreme Court to except as provided under this new process and redesignates existing subsection (e) as subsection (f).