2026-09-02 20:40:21 UTC / 路透社
作者：内特·雷蒙德 理查德·考恩
2026年9月2日 晚上8:40 UTC 更新于1小时前
2026年9月1日摄于美国华盛顿的美国最高法院。路透社/亚伦·施瓦茨 摄
- 内容摘要
- 共和党称宪法应将大法官人数固定为9人
- 共和党任命的大法官在最高法院占据6比3的多数席位
- 自1869年以来最高法院一直有9名大法官；此前大法官人数曾有变动
华盛顿9月2日路透电 — 美国众议院民主党人周三挫败了一项宪法修正案提案，该提案旨在将最高法院大法官人数永久固定为9人。共和党提出这项提案，意在将最高法院保守派多数席位问题作为11月3日选举前的竞选议题。
众议院共和党人发起此次投票，旨在凸显民主党人可能会扩大最高法院规模、削弱保守派多数席位——此前民主党因最高法院在堕胎、投票权等议题上的裁决感到愤怒，他们希望如果能在11月的中期选举中重新掌控国会，就能采取上述行动。
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该修正案以212票反对、206票赞成未获通过，远未达到众议院通过所需的三分之二多数票门槛。
目前共和党在众议院拥有218个席位，民主党为214个席位。即便该提案在众议院获得通过，它在参议院也面临极大阻力，之后还需要获得50个州中的38个州批准才能生效。
历史上，无论共和党还是民主党在众议院占据多数席位时，都会发起一些明知无法通过的投票，这类提案被称为“宣传法案”，可用于在竞选活动中争取选民支持，并迫使政治对手在棘手议题上表明立场。
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共和党议长迈克·约翰逊在11月3日选举仅剩少数立法会议程日之际安排此次投票，凸显出共和党人的担忧：特朗普的低支持率可能会让该党失去众议院或参议院的多数席位。
“捍卫最高法院的公正性不应成为一场有争议的投票，”约翰逊在事后发表的一份声明中谈及民主党人时说道。
支持周三这项修正案的众议院共和党人辩称，有必要终结民主党人试图改变最高法院规模的提案——此前共和党总统唐纳德·特朗普任命了三名大法官，使最高法院形成了6比3的保守派多数席位。
“意料之中，美国同胞们，这又是MAGA阵营的党派权力攫取，我们的同僚们因11月的选举结果感到恐慌，因为他们的政策只给我们带来了战争、通胀、腐败、无法无天和40万亿美元的债务，”马里兰州民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金在反对该提案的演讲中说道。
大法官人数一直是个悬而未决的问题
美国宪法并未规定最高法院应配备多少名大法官，美国历史上最高法院的规模曾有过多次变动，国会曾将大法官人数缩减至最少5人，也曾最多扩充至10人。自1869年以来，最高法院一直保持9名大法官的编制。
1937年，民主党总统富兰克林·D·罗斯福曾试图新增最多6名大法官，该提案最终失败，当时该举措被广泛批评为“填塞法院”的行为，因为最高法院此前裁定其部分新政议程违宪。议员们最终断然否决了他的提案。
“这或许就是试图打造帝王式行政权的开端，”亚利桑那州共和党众议员安迪·比格斯在众议院辩论期间说道，“这并非为了建设更好的法庭……而是为了出于意识形态目的改变最高法院的组成。”
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自2021年以来，最高法院已推翻了全国范围内的堕胎权、扩大了枪支权利、限制了联邦机构的权力，并允许共和党总统推行其第二任期的大部分议程。
此后民主党人提出了一项法案，提议将最高法院大法官人数扩充至13人——他们称，在特朗普执政时期，国会必须保留这一选项。
内特·雷蒙德于波士顿、理查德·考恩于华盛顿报道；迈克尔·利尔蒙特和霍华德·戈勒编辑
我们的准则：汤森路透信托原则。
Democrats sink Republican bid to cap Supreme Court at nine justices
2026-09-02 20:40:21 UTC / Reuters
By Nate Raymond and Richard Cowan
September 2, 2026 8:40 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 1, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
- Summary
- Republicans say Constitution should cap justices at nine
- Republican-appointed justices hold 6-3 majority on court
- Supreme Court has had nine since 1869; size had fluctuated
WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives defeated a constitutional amendment on Wednesday to permanently cap the Supreme Court at nine justices, voting against a Republican proposal designed to make the court’s conservative majority a campaign issue ahead of November 3 elections.
House Republicans staged the vote to highlight the potential for Democrats, angered by rulings on issues such as abortion and voting rights, to expand the court and weaken its conservative majority if they regain control of Congress in November’s midterms.
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The measure failed 212-206, far short of the necessary two-thirds majority to pass in the House.
Republicans control 218 seats in the House, compared with 214 held by Democrats. Even had the measure passed, it faced long odds in the U.S. Senate and would have needed to then be ratified by 38 of the 50 U.S. states.
Republicans and Democrats, when holding majority control of the House, have historically staged votes on bills they know will fail but are known as “messaging bills” that can be used to shore up support with voters during election campaigns and force political opponents into taking stands on thorny issues.
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Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to schedule the vote with few legislative days left before the November 3 elections underscored Republican concerns that Trump’s low approval ratings could cost the party its House or Senate majority.
“Defending the integrity of the Supreme Court shouldn’t be a controversial vote,” Johnson said in a statement afterwards, referring to Democrats.
House Republicans supporting Wednesday’s proposed amendment argued it was necessary to put an end to Democratic proposals to alter the court’s size after President Donald Trump, a Republican, appointed three justices to give the court a conservative 6-3 majority.
“Surprise, surprise America. It’s another partisan power grab by MAGA, our colleagues who fear for the results in the November election as their policies have brought us nothing but war, inflation, corruption, lawlessness and a $40 trillion debt,” Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said in a speech opposing the measure.
THE NUMBER OF JUSTICES IS AN OPEN QUESTION
The U.S. Constitution does not establish how many justices should sit on the Supreme Court, and the size has fluctuated over the course of U.S. history, with Congress reducing it to as few as five justices and expanding it to as many as 10 over the years. The Supreme Court has had nine justices since 1869.
A failed push by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 to add up to six justices was widely criticized as an effort to “pack” the court after the justices struck down parts of his New Deal agenda. Lawmakers rejected his bid decisively.
“That was the birth perhaps of the attempt to have an imperial executive,” Republican Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona argued during House debate. “It wasn’t about building a better courthouse … it was about changing the composition of the court for ideological purposes.”
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The court since 2021 has overturned the nationwide right to abortion, expanded gun rights, curtailed the power of federal agencies and allowed the Republican president to execute much of his second-term agenda.
Democrats have since put forward legislation that would expand the number of justices on the court to 13 — an option they say Congress must maintain under Trump.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Richard Cowan in Washington; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Howard Goller
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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