Constitution Index · H.J.Res. 1 · 2025-01-03

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require that the Supreme Court of the United States be composed of nine justices.

Latest official status (2026-09-02): On motion to suspend the rules and pass Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 212 - 206 (Roll no. 293).

Official source ↗

Constitutional grade

A

Constitutional

HJRES 1 uses the constitutionally prescribed Article V amendment process to fix Supreme Court membership at one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. It asserts no unauthorized federal power, infringes no right, restricts no individual liberty, transfers no decision upward, and denies no process or property. Failed House passage on 2026-09-02 does not affect its constitutional soundness.

Article V Article I, Section 8 Article III, Section 1 Amendment I Amendment II Amendment IV Amendment V Amendment VIII Amendment X Amendment XIV, Section 1

SI-generated grade · passed automated checks (real Constitution citation, language rules) · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology · Report an error: hello@valuesforamerica.com

The five checks

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has explicit authority to propose constitutional amendments under Article V, requiring two-thirds of both Houses followed by ratification. This joint resolution uses only that lawful channel and claims no new regulatory power under Article I, Section 8. Structuring the Supreme Court is expressly contemplated by Article III, Section 1, which vests the judicial power in one supreme Court and leaves its composition to lawful establishment.

Bill of Rights · passes

Fixing the Court at nine Justices restricts no protected right. It does not limit speech, religion, press, assembly or petition under the First Amendment, does not disarm anyone under the Second Amendment, authorizes no search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment, compels no testimony under the Fifth Amendment, and imposes no punishment under the Eighth Amendment. It preserves the judicial structure contemplated by Article III, Section 1.

Individual liberty · passes

The resolution restricts no personal conduct involving body, property, speech, labor, or belief. It governs only the size of a federal institution under Article III, Section 1. Because there is no restriction on individual liberty, the government bears no additional justification burden beyond its lawful Article V amendment power.

Decentralization · passes

Composition of the Supreme Court of the United States is inherently a national function under Article III, Section 1. No individual, county, or state can constitute the federal Supreme Court. The proposal does not move any new power upward; it locks the existing nine-member structure in place and leaves all powers reserved to the States by the Tenth Amendment untouched.

Due process and takings · passes

The measure orders no arrest, prosecution, seizure, hearing denial, or transfer of property. It therefore triggers no procedural due process, substantive due process, presumption-of-innocence, or just-compensation issue under the Fifth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1. No property is taken and no adjudication is bypassed.

Provenance

Grade ID
245
Rubric version
vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0
Graded
2026-10-08 10:57 UTC
Engine
primary SI engine
Source fetched
2026-10-08 09:43 UTC
Source SHA-256
c1bc1c71a97562463dec0f547bb71274ba238b32cf4169be766a85dc6728e397
Checks
si-editorial-standard/1.0: real Constitution citation, language rules

Version history · never overwritten

GradeGradedRubric Source hashStatus
A · #245 2026-10-08 vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0 c1bc1c71a975 current

Cite this

Values for America. “Constitutional grade: H.J.Res. 1, Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to require that the Supreme Court of the United States be composed of nine justices..” VFA Constitution Index, grade 245 (rubric vfa-constitutional-grade/1.0), graded October 8, 2026. https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution-index/grades/245. Accessed 2026-10-19.

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