Rep. Kennedy To Introduce Bill To Limit U.S. Supreme Court Terms

NEWTON, MA — Outgoing congressman Joe Kennedy, of Newton, said he is filing legislation this week to introduce term limits for all future U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

"Lifetime appointments to the highest court in our land undermine our democratic process and erode progress in our nation,” said Kennedy in a statement.

The bill, set to be introduced Tuesday, comes less than two weeks after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and President Donald Trump has named his pick to replace her ahead of the 2020 presidential race.

The bill would establish 18-year term limits on any Supreme Court Justices approved if it passes. After their term limit was up, justices would then be allowed to continue their service on lower courts.

Kennedy's bill would create a regular appointment process to allow every president to nominate a new justice to the Supreme Court during each odd year, guaranteeing each president the opportunity to nominate two justices per four-year term.

"In recent days, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have once again exploited the Supreme Court in their anti-democratic power grabs," Kennedy said. "If we believe in the promise of this nation and our march toward a more perfect union, we must enact term limits on our Supreme Court justices."

Virginia Congressman Don Beyer and California Congressman Ro Khanna are also sponsoring the bill, which would be the first time the notion of Supreme Court term limits has been proposed as a bill, rather than a constitutional amendment, according to Kennedy's office.

"For many Americans, the Supreme Court is a distant, secretive, unelected body that can make drastic changes in their lives without any accountability," said Rep. Beyer. "The dramatic politicization of the Court in recent years has greatly undermined the conception of the Court as a group of dispassionate, apolitical jurists, and made the argument for lifetime tenure increasingly obsolete."

Kennedy's office said the bill is endorsed by the advocacy group Fix the Court, and will be introduced in the United States House of Representatives on Sept. 29.

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