Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Congressman Tom Barrett is proposing a constitutional amendment to limit federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, to serving a 20-year term.

According to Barrett's office, the Judicial Term Limits Amendment would also prevent judges who complete a 20-year term from getting reappointed to the same federal court. This would only apply to newly appointed federal judges, allowing the term limit to take effect gradually as current judges leave the bench, while preventing the president and Senate from immediately getting new judicial vacancies to fill.

“Our federal courts are responsible for upholding our most fundamental rights and liberties,” said Barrett. “Lifetime appointments were designed to protect judicial independence, but instead have too often emboldened judges to wield their enormous power long after they should have retired. When our Constitution was ratified, 20 years practically was a lifetime appointment. Along with the Keep the Nine Amendment that I co-sponsored, a reasonable term limit will ensure occasional turnover in powerful offices, preserve the independence our judiciary needs to apply the law without fear or favor, and protect the integrity of the courts for generations to come.”

The average age of federal judges has risen significantly since the nation’s founding, according Barrett's office. The average judge as of 2024 is 68 years old, compared to 49 years old in 1789.

The Judicial Term Limits Amendment builds on Barrett’s office calls an effort to preserve judicial independence and keep partisan politics from interfering with the judiciary by ’permanently setting the Supreme Courts membership at nine justices.

Read the full bill text for the Judicial Term Limits Amendment attached below.