Republicans propose amendment to limit Supreme Court to 9 justices

A Republican senator is planning to introduce a constitutional amendment to "limit the number of US Supreme Court justices to nine" after several Democrats professed the idea of expanding the bench.

The first-term congressman from US' Tennessee's 7th District, Mark Green on Tuesday tweeted, "This Thursday, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of Supreme Court justices to 9 -- the number of seats since 1869. The Supreme Court must remain a fair and impartial branch of government not beholden to party."

As 2020 Presidential elections are drawing closer, several Democrats including former US Attorney General Eric Holder and Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg have expressed concern as country's highest court is becoming a "nakedly political institution."

"This central objective that is to prevent the Supreme Court from continuing on this trajectory to become basically ruined by being a nakedly political institution," The Hill quoted Buttigieg as saying.

Last year, US President Donald Trump faced flak over his decision to appoint then US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court Justice. His appointment shifted the nine-judge bench further right with five conservative justices. The Democrats, at several instances, had alleged Trump for exploiting the judiciary to have ruling in his favour.