[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3096 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3096

 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

                            October 19, 2023

 Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Padilla, 
  Ms. Hirono, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Schatz) 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 2023''.

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.
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