Should the United States Supreme Court have term limits?

Background

Under the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court justices currently serve lifetime appointments during "good behavior," with no mandatory retirement age or term limit. In recent years, multiple bills have been introduced in Congress to change this arrangement. In 2025, Representative Ro Khanna introduced the Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act, proposing staggered 18-year terms with a new justice appointed every two years. In May 2026, Representative Johnny Olszewski introduced the Reform of Bench Eligibility (ROBE) Act, which would also impose 18-year terms but apply them retroactively to sitting justices. Public confidence in the Court has declined significantly: a 2025 Pew Research Center poll found that only 48 percent of Americans view the Court favorably, down from 70 percent five years earlier. Meanwhile, a 2025 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 75 percent of Americans support term limits for justices, including 67 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of independents, and 85 percent of Democrats.

Supporters of term limits argue that lifetime appointments have made the confirmation process intensely partisan, incentivized presidents to nominate the youngest possible candidates to maximize ideological influence, and encouraged justices to strategically time their retirements. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which convened a bipartisan working group of legal scholars and political scientists, has found that modeling of term-limit proposals generally reduces the likelihood of extreme ideological imbalance on the Court. Opponents raise several concerns. The R Street Institute and American Enterprise Institute have argued that tying two seats to every presidential term could actually heighten political stakes around each election rather than lower them. Legal scholars at Vanderbilt University have warned that a court welcoming a new justice every two years could undermine doctrinal stability. Others contend that imposing term limits by statute, rather than constitutional amendment, would face serious constitutional challenges under Article III's guarantee that judges hold office during good behavior.

The stakes of this debate extend well beyond the courtroom. The Supreme Court shapes American life through rulings on abortion, voting rights, presidential power, and federal regulation. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that grants life tenure to its highest court justices, and the average length of service has grown to roughly 28 years. Whether term limits would restore public trust or further politicize the judiciary remains deeply contested. How this debate unfolds could redefine the balance of power among the three branches of government and affect how responsive the nation's highest court is to a changing society for generations to come.