WHEREAS, the United States Constitution provides no specific instructions for the number of justices that constitutes the Supreme Court of the United States; and
WHEREAS, for over 150 years the Supreme Court has consisted of nine justices; and
WHEREAS, during the nation’s history, Congress has changed the number of justices, both increasing and decreasing it seven times prior to 1869 for the purpose of gaining political advantage for a then-current political position; and
WHEREAS, the practice of “packing the court” for political advantage greatly decreases public confidence that the Supreme Court exists as an essential element of America’s system of checks and balances that guarantees and protects a citizen’s Constitutional rights; and
WHEREAS, in order to prevent all attempts by the Legislative and Executive branches of the federal government to change the number of Supreme Court justices, the “Keep Nine Amendment” to the United States Constitution has been proposed which simply states “the Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices”; and
WHEREAS, the “Keep Nine Amendment” was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 76 in the United States Senate on October 19, 2020 by Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and is now sponsored or supported by numerous United States Senators including Senators John Boozman (AR), Bill Cassidy (LA), Tom Cotton (AR), Steve Daines (MT), Joni Ernst (IA), Chuck Grassley (IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), Mike Lee (UT), David Perdue (GA), Rob Portman (OH), Thom Tillis (NC), and Roger Wicker (MS); and
WHEREAS, the “Keep Nine Amendment” was introduced as House Joint Resolution 95 in the House of Representatives on September 24, 2020 with bipartisan sponsorship by then-representatives Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA), with co-sponsors Mo Brooks (R-AL), Michael San Nicolas (D-GU), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), and Ken Buck (R-CO); and
WHEREAS, a recent poll showed that voters support a “Keep Nine Amendment” by more than a three-to-one margin; and
WHEREAS, Democrats have refused to remove packing of the Supreme Court from consideration, and the Biden White House formed the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, with “court expansionists” serving as its leaders; and
WHEREAS, since in 2020, Democrats were successful in gaining control of the Senate, House of Representatives, and the White House, the introduction of the “Keep Nine Amendment” and its popularity among Americans should serve as a check to this self-serving chicanery; and
WHEREAS, the above information previously has been vetted by the Legal Department of the Republican National Committee (“RNC”), approved by the Trump White House, and unanimously adopted as a resolution by the RNC General Assembly (168 members) for an official position; and
WHEREAS, subsequent to the adoption of the resolution by the RNC, the “Keep Nine Amendment” was reintroduced as Senate Joint Resolution 9 in the United States Senate on February 25, 2021 by Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and now has 20 Republican co-sponsors and re-introduced as House Joint Resolution 11 in the United States House of Representatives on January 4, 2021 by Representative Rusty Johnson (R-SD) and now has 178 Republican co-sponsors; and
WHEREAS, the 2022 Republican Party of Texas Platform in Plank 19(b) states that we “oppose ‘packing’ (or enlarging) the United States Supreme Court and support the pending ‘Keep Nine Amendment’ as filed in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives with bipartisan support”; now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas supports the pending “Keep Nine Amendment” as filed in the United States Senate and House of Representatives with wide and increasing Republican support.
