# Summary
The Judicial Modernization and Transparency Act would significantly restructure the federal judiciary. The bill would expand the Supreme Court from nine to fourteen justices, with the president required to appoint one new justice every 120 days during the first and third years of each presidential term until the court reaches fifteen members. The bill also increases the number of federal appeals courts from thirteen to fifteen circuits and adds 70 new district court judgeships across the country, distributed among various federal districts based on caseload needs.
The legislation imposes new restrictions on the Supreme Court's power to strike down federal laws, requiring that two-thirds of justices plus a majority of all justices vote to invalidate any act of Congress. It establishes similar supermajority requirements for appeals courts. The bill creates extensive new transparency requirements, including mandatory public disclosure of Supreme Court justices' income tax returns, audit reports, and voting records on all cases. Current Supreme Court justices and nominees would be required to file copies of their tax returns for the previous three years, with the Judicial Conference making this information publicly available after redacting sensitive personal information.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.