Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5076 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5076

 To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the regularized
appointment of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 2026

 Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Padilla,
 Ms. Hirono, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Welch, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs.
 Murray, and Mr. Schiff) introduced the following bill; which was read
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the regularized
appointment of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Supreme Court Biennial Appointments
and Term Limits Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SUPREME COURT TERMS OF OFFICE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended--
            (1) by striking by section 1 and inserting the following:
``Sec. 1. Number of justices; quorum
    ``(a) In General.--The Supreme Court of the United States shall
consist of a Chief Justice of the United States and not fewer than 8
associate justices, any 6 of whom shall constitute a quorum.''.
    ``(b) Appellate Jurisdiction Cases.--Only the 9 most recently
appointed justices of the Supreme Court of the United States who are
not unavailable due to a temporary absence shall preside over appellate
jurisdiction cases.
    ``(c) Original Jurisdiction Cases and Other Powers.--All justices
of the Supreme Court of the United States shall preside over original
jurisdiction cases, and may, subject to any procedures established by
the Supreme Court, continue to exercise all other official powers,
duties, or responsibilities of a justice of the Supreme Court required
by law.'';
            (2) by striking section 3 and inserting the following:
``Sec. 3. Vacancy in office of Chief Justice; disability
    ``(a) Powers and Duties of Chief Justice.--Whenever the Chief
Justice is unable to perform the duties of the office or the office is
vacant, the powers and duties of Chief Justice shall devolve upon the
associate justice next in precedence who is able to act, until such
disability is removed or another Chief Justice is appointed and duly
qualified.
    ``(b) Permanent Vacancy in Office of Chief Justice.--In the event
of a permanent vacancy in the office of Chief Justice of the United
States, the first appointment of a justice under this chapter following
such vacancy shall be to the office of Chief Justice of the United
States.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 7. Appointment
    ``(a) Appointments.--
            ``(1) In general.--The President shall appoint, by and with
        the advice and consent of the Senate, 1 individual to be a
        justice of the Supreme Court of the United States within the
        first 120 days of the first and third years of a Presidential
        term.
            ``(2) Withdrawal or disapproval.--If the nomination of an
        individual under this section is withdrawn or disapproved by
        the Senate, the President shall appoint, by and with the advice
        and consent of the Senate, 1 individual to be a justice of the
        Supreme Court of the United States not later than 120 after the
        date of such withdrawal or disapproval.
            ``(3) Applicability.--The President shall not appoint any
        individual to be a justice of the Supreme Court of the United
        States if the number of justices who do not hear appellate
        jurisdiction cases is 9.
    ``(b) Exclusive Manner of Appointment.--Except as provided under
subsection (c), the President shall not appoint an individual to be a
justice of the Supreme Court of the United States except as provided
under this section.
    ``(c) Fewer Than 9 Justices.--If due to a permanent vacancy the
total number of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States is
fewer than 9, the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, such number of individuals as necessary to be a
justice of the Supreme Court until the total number of justices of the
Supreme Court is 9.
    ``(d) Effective Date of Appointment.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
        term for justices appointed under this section shall begin on
        July 1.
            ``(2) Fewer than 9 justices.--The term of an appointment
        under subsection (c) shall begin on the date on which the
        appointment is made.
``Sec. 8. Definitions
    ``In this chapter--
            ``(1) the term `appellate jurisdiction cases' means any
        action, proceeding, or controversy under section 1253, 1254,
        1257, 1258, 1259, or 1260;
            ``(2) the term `original jurisdiction cases' means any
        action, proceeding, or controversy under section 1251;
            ``(3) the term `permanent vacancy' means a vacancy in the
        office of justice of the Supreme Court of the United States due
        to death, resignation, retirement, or removal; and
            ``(4) the term `temporary absence' means an absence due to
        disability, recusal, or disqualification.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 1 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:

``7. Appointment.
``8. Definitions.''.
    (c) Rules of the Senate.--This section is enacted by Congress--
            (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate,
        and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of the Senate, and
        it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is
        inconsistent with such rules; and
            (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of
        the Senate to change such rules (so far as relating to the
        procedure of the Senate) at any time, in the same manner, and
        to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the
        Senate.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply
beginning on the date on which the first full term of a President
commences pursuant to section 101 of title 3, United States Code, after
the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act, or
any application of such provision or amendment to any person or
circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of the provisions of
this Act and the amendments made by this Act and the application of the
provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance shall not be
affected.
                                 <all>