Outgoing Independent U.S. Senator Joe Manchin introduced legislation that would amend the U.S. Constitution to set 18-year term limits on U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
In a Monday statement, Manchin said that “political posturing … has eroded public confidence” in the court. He filed the joint resolution with Sen. Peter Welch, D-VT.
“Senator Manchin and I found common ground on setting term limits for Supreme Court Justices as a way to restore the American public’s faith in our high court’s judicial independence,” Welch said in a Monday statement to WVPB.
WVU Law Professor Anne M. Lofaso said the amendment is unlikely to pass during this Congressional session, although it could hold longer-term impact by starting debate on court reform on a “serious note.”
“Senator Manchin is giving some of his legacy,” Lofaso said.
Lofaso said the amendment fit Manchin’s record as an “institutionalist.”
“He, for example, was in always in favor of maintaining the filibuster and so in order to have greater checks and balances,” Lafaso said. “So this is a check and balance.”
In the past, Manchin has said he would not support “packing the court,” which would allow the President to appoint more than nine judges to the court.
Manchin came to the U.S. Senate in 2010 after decades in different West Virginia elected offices, beginning as a House of Delegates member in 1982. He will leave office in January.