U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) are pushing to establish term limits for Supreme Court justices, reintroducing the Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits , legislation that would effectively impose 18-year term limits and put Supreme Court appointments on a predictable, regular schedule–as the Court’s approval rating among Americans nears a historic low. Under the proposal, a new justice would join the Court every two years, hear the full range of cases for 18 years and then transition to a limited role handling only the small number of cases the Constitution requires.
“It is unacceptable that our highest court has the lowest standards of accountability—no one should hold immense, unchecked power for decades in the manner our Court currently operates. The Supreme Court is not the possession of any president or political party; it is a sacred institution meant to reflect our nation across generations, not a single political moment. This legislation strengthens trust in our highest Court, protects its impartiality, and ensures it can fulfill its constitutional purpose: delivering equal justice for every American,” said Senator Booker.
“The Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision supercharged an organized, dark-money funded scheme by right-wing special interests to capture and control the Court. The result is a distorted judicial process that sides with the wealthiest interests at the expense of ordinary Americans, and President Trump is only eager to keep up the scheme to consolidate his own power,” said Senator Whitehouse, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee. “Term limits and regular appointments would make the Court more representative of everyday Americans and help restore the Supreme Court to the proper independent body it was created to be. More than ever, it’s important we get this right.”
“As the Supreme Court faces a legitimacy crisis, fundamental reforms are needed to restore trust and credibility. Implementing term limits would make the Court more representative of America, and preserve an institution that is increasingly influenced by toxic politics and partisan obstruction. This legislation is critical to the Supreme Court’s survival as an independent branch of government, and its accountability to the American people,” said Senator Blumenthal.
“The Supreme Court has reached unprecedented and unacceptable levels of politicization,” said Senator Padilla.“Term limits are a commonsense solution to lower the temperature on the Judiciary and start restoring trust in the highest court in our land.”
Right-wing billionaires, the fossil fuel industry, and other special interest groups have spent hundreds of millions building a network of
of front groups to capture the Supreme Court and dictate who gets appointed and shape how those appointees rule, resulting in a Court that has repeatedly greenlighted donor-friendly policies in cases like Dobbs. V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Shelby County V. Holder, and Citizens United V. FEC–decisions reshaping American life in ways out of step with the public. The Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act seeks to depoliticize the appointment process and ensure the Court serves the American people, not billionaires, by using Congress’s constitutional authority over the Court’s appellate jurisdiction to: 1) limit appellate cases to the nine most recently appointed justices; while 2) allowing all justices to retain authority over original jurisdiction cases, as the Constitution requires; and 3) permitting justices to stepp in to hear appellate cases when a sitting justice has a conflict or is unavailable. The bill also establishes regular appointments by requiring the president to nominate one justice within the first 120 days of the first and third years of each presidential term, with the law taking effect only at the start of the first new presidential term after enactment.
The United States is one of only five nations that grants lifetime tenure to its highest court’s judges. Americans overwhelmingly want a Supreme Court that better reflects and answers to the public it serves, and recent polling finds that two out of every three Americans back term limits for the justices.
The Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act is endorsed by the Brennan Center for Justice, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Alliance for Justice, People for the American Way, Newtown Action Alliance, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Stand Up America, True North Research, End Citizens United, Voto Latino, National Council of Negro Women, Inc., and Reproductive Freedom for All.
“The Supreme Court needs term limits. It has vast power and minimal accountability. A single justice can now shape the law for generations. This is at odds with the democratic principle that no one should hold too much power for too long. At a time when trust in the Court is hovering at record lows, term limits should be at the top of the list of reforms. It would bring new perspectives and voices to the Court while strengthening the link between the Court and the American people. Congress should work to pass Supreme Court term limits into law,” said Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice.
“We applaud the re-introduction of the term limits proposal spearheaded by Senate champions of a fair Supreme Court. We are all witnessing the disastrous consequences of the appointment of ideologues hand-picked to use judicial power to limit our freedoms. The regressive billionaires who have backed Leonard Leo’s court capture agenda are counting on ringers, like Clarence Thomas, who are biased in their favor spending thirty or forty years dismantling our rights. This proposal–which limits the gaming of retirement for partisan purposes and disincentives the selection of young operatives for the bench–is one of several worthy reform initiatives that must be considered in order to restore and expand the rights of We the People in our democracy,” said Lisa Graves, Executive Director of True North Research.
“Congress cannot remain passive while a corrupt Supreme Court continues to favor the powerful and harm the rest of us. The BATL Act recognizes that we can and we must structurally reform the Court,” said Marge Baker, Executive Vice President at the People for the American Way.
“Right-wing dark money groups orchestrated a capture of the Supreme Court over many decades. It’s how we got Citizens United and a corrupt government that only works for its donors while failing the American people,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “The fix is simple: judicial term limits and biennial appointments would make the Court fairer, more accountable, and less susceptible to dangerous partisan schemes. This is a first step toward restoring public trust in an institution meant to be a last line of defense for justice and protecting Americans’ rights. We’re grateful to Senators Booker, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, and Padilla for their commitment to making government work for all Americans.”
“Supreme Court justices hold too much power for too long. We applaud this common-sense solution to bring the Supreme Court in line with courts throughout the country and the world by ensuring regular turnover,” said David Janovsky, Acting Director of The Constitution Project at the Project on Government Oversight.
“It’s long past time for Congress enact serious reforms to ensure that the Supreme Court is made up of fair-minded, independent justices guided by the Constitution and the rule of law—not wealthy interests, political loyalty, or ideological agendas,” said Alison Gill, senior director of democracy and nominations at the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “This commonsense Supreme Court term limits bill would help restore public confidence in the Court’s independence and integrity. At a time when public trust in the Court is at an all-time low, this legislation would take a meaningful step toward ensuring that the nation’s highest court remains accountable to the Constitution—not politics.”
“The Supreme Court’s decision to take up the challenge to Connecticut’s assault weapons ban—enacted after the Sandy Hook massacre to protect future generations from the same horror—underscores why Supreme Court reform can no longer wait,” said Po Murray, Chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance. “When a handful of lifetime-appointed justices can put lifesaving laws and millions of lives at risk decades after they were enacted, our democracy is out of balance. Biennial appointments and eighteen-year terms would restore accountability, reduce the political warfare surrounding every vacancy, and help ensure the Court remains connected to the American people it serves. Survivors should not have to relive their trauma every time the Court reconsiders whether their states have the constitutional right to protect themselves from weapons of war.”
“Serious and repeated allegations of ethical misconduct at the Supreme Court have undermined public faith in the judiciary. This self-inflicted crisis raises serious concerns about whether the Supreme Court’s credibility can survive without meaningful reform,” said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “The Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act of 2026 is a strong response to this crisis. It uses the Court’s jurisdiction to create term limits for Supreme Court justices and permits those justices whose terms have ended to retain their seats in a senior status position. This legislation could help both end partisan manipulation of the Court’s composition and reduce ethics problems among justices. CREW commends Senators Booker,Whitehouse, Blumenthal, and Padilla for continuing to lead the charge on the need to address Supreme Court ethics and introducing this crucial piece of legislation.”
“No one should hold power for life. Lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court give nine individuals the power to shape federal law for decades, if not generations. Eighteen years is long enough. Every major democracy in the world except the United States, and 49 of 50 states, limit their top judges with term limits, elections, or mandatory retirement ages. That’s why three-fourths of Americans support term limits for Supreme Court justices. We applaud Senator Whitehouse’s leadership and urge his Democratic colleagues to rally behind this commonsense legislation,” said Brett Edkins, Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs at Stand Up America.
The Supreme Court Biennial Appointments and Term Limits Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Patty Murray (D-WA).
Full text of the bill is available here.
